#they make my whole life they're glorious.

[flowercrowngods]

based on this post, because at this point i think it's safe to say @unclewaynemunson is actually my muse or something (hi anna i hope this is okay even though it’s, like, way angsty and way too long huh)

🤍 also on ao3

Two days after Starcourt, concussed and beaten, Steve has a seizure.

His ears are still ringing when the doctor gives him a stern glance over the rim of his glasses and pronounces him unfit to drive. No, in fact, he claims Steve poses a real danger to himself and others if he sat behind a wheel again.

Immediately, Dustin and Robin jump to promising that they won't let him do that, and in another life Steve is sure he would be grateful, or at least reasonable about it, but in this one he has a horrible second where the floor falls out from under him and he wishes, for just one second, that his head had been shaken a bit more, just enough to–

It makes him nauseous even thinking that. Everything does, lately. He closes his eyes against the offensive brightness of the hospital room and lets the sound of Dustin's and Robin's voices wash over him as he takes a moment to really take in what the doctor's orders entail.

He can't drive anymore. No more late night drives to watch the street lights pass and lull him into a safer state of mind than his bedroom walls could. No more driving the kids to their DnD sessions, no more taking Robin anywhere at the drop of a hat, no more bickering, no more reign over the music, no more stern glances through the rearview mirror, no more "Shut up, Wheeler, or you're leaving the car."

No more "Thanks, Steve!", no more "I'll bring some of mom's cookies if you drive us to the arcade", no more "You're the best" or "You're a lifesaver" or "I owe you one".

No more place for him in the group, no more use for him, no more...

No more. Nothing. Now he's just Steve, would-be lifesaver, 'has-been babysitter', 'could-have-been somebody until he lost his license to drive because he wasn't quick enough, wasn't good enough, wasn't strong enough'. Just Steve.

He doesn't know how to be that. Who is Steve Harrington without his car, without the one thing he was good for anymore?

The pit in his chest is deep enough, dark enough to pull him in, and for a moment the very thing he is good for is misery.

He waits until a nurse makes everyone leave for the night, and then he cries. It makes his head hurt, pressure building behind his eyes, but he's used to being in more pain than any teenager should be in, so he curls in on himself and hides underneath the blanket.

Here's to hoping the others won't notice just how useless he is now. Not too soon, anyway. He wants another month. A painless month filled with laughter and hugs, and then they're free to leave, to pull back slowly. Calls unanswered, radio channels changed so he won't reach them, sheepish apologies and rain checks, because now Nancy will drive them. Or Jonathan. Hell, maybe Max will take the risk just to avoid him.

---

He gets a week of daily visits in the hospital, the doctors and nurses insisting on keeping him here, a watchful eye on his vitals, scanning his head three times during his stay, insisting he has head trauma of a severely worrying degree.

Nancy picks him up from the hospital and it's awkward, tense, too much left unsaid between them but there's no one else to do it. Steve's hands are shaking, gripping the seatbelt the whole way home – and then his heart falls when he sees his Beemer in the driveway. The glorious, trusty, wonderful, best fucking car anyone could wish for. His baby. His.

He throw up into the brushes when he realises that he won't get to take it on one last ride. Maybe he shouldn't be so attached to a car. Maybe he's being pathetic about it. At least he can explain away the fat tears in his eyes now, and Nancy doesn't press.

The first thing he does when Nancy is gone is calling Robin, and she's excited when she says, "I'll come right over!" and Steve wants to ask, how, but he keeps his mouth shut, biting his lip. It's stupid, but the thought of someone else driving Robin over makes his skin crawl.

"Alright," he says instead, his voice raspy, and he hangs up before she can detect something in his voice.

After that, he goes outside again and runs his hand along his Beemer. It's shining in the sun; he had it cleaned the other week, the full program, every step in the book to celebrate four years since he got her.

"Four years, huh," Steve says, his nail catching on a minor scratch that isn't even visible but might be more familiar to him than even his home. "Damn good four years."

He's talking to his car. God, it's so stupid, it's so stupid, it's so stupid–

Steve's knees give out and he gives in to the desire that's burning under his skin sometimes, the desire to just sit down and ignore the world. Because everything is less real when you're sitting down somewhere you're not meant to be, and the ground is warm, and Steve just wants the world to go. His head is leaning back against the warm metal of the driver's door, and he closes his eyes for a while, his head still spinning, his ears still ringing, everything still awful.

After a while, there’s a shadow followed by a weight settling down between him, a head landing on his shoulder, a hand taking his.

"I'm so sorry, Stevie," Robin says. The lack of dingus makes it more real, somehow. More tragic. More pathetic.

"I'll live." And it feels a bit like a lie.

---

He gets his month. A month filled with barbecues in his backyard, the kids coming by after school to check on him, and Robin has practically moved in. Joyce picks him up on Friday nights for dinner at their house for a change of scenery.

It’s a good month, though Steve feels trapped. Caged. A bird without his wings, a boy without his car. Steve without his one purpose, the one thing he was good for. He has to be picked up because they don’t trust him walking, or they have to come to his place. And soon the worried glances that are thrown his way are too much, caging him further, reminding him of what this is. A pity party — quite literally. No one trusts him anymore, there’s always someone jumping to help him, not caring or listening to his protests.

And he can’t leave, because “What if you have a seizure in your room?”

It makes him want to scream.

Maybe it shows, or maybe everyone’s just fed up with him now that he can’t provide his taxi services anymore, but after summer the Byers dinners stop and the kids pull away.

“Told you that’s all I’m good for,” Steve says with a mean, pained huff as he hangs up the phone. Claudia said Dustin isn’t home, but he could hear the kids in the background. It hurts more than it should.

“What is?” Robin asks from her place on the floor with her back against the wall.

“Nothing.”

She frowns. “Come on, dingus, you can’t start and then—“

“No, I mean it. Nothing. That’s what I’m good for now that I can’t drive them anymore.”

“Bullshit!” she says, and it comes out so harsh that it makes Steve flinch. He swallows. Right. Robin isn’t hear to listen to him whine about how he feels like he has no place in this town, in this group, in this life anymore now that his head is so fucked up he can’t even be trusted to live alone.

That’s why Robin is here, right?

The babysitter becomes the babysitted… or something.

She doesn’t care, not really. She doesn’t listen. She doesn’t ask.

“Steve, they’re kids.”

“Yeah, well. So am I.”

He turns away from her and ignores the tears threatening to fall. The door to his room falls shut and he would love to lock it just to make a point to the world at large, a point that it can’t shut him out if he shuts himself in, but he knows it’s too risky. If he has a seizure, Robin needs to get in.

He can’t even stay in his room alone without supervision anymore. What kind of a fuck-up is he becoming, where does it end? He’s already managed to chase away the kids, even Dustin only checks on him sporadically anymore, and it hurts. He wants to know why, wants to know what he did, how to take it back, how to get them back.

But then he remembers how it all started. Dustin needed a ride and someone to take a beating. Both of which he can’t do anymore without risking life and death of himself and others. He’s a safety hazard. He’s useless. He’s Steve fucking Harrington, which doesn’t mean anything anymore.

---

And then it’s spring, and Chrissy Cunningham is found dead in Eddie Munson’s trailer. The group is back together again, the Party assembled once more. And Steve, for a just one second, hopes that he can get it right this time, that he can do this again. One last time. Because Vecna slash Henry slash One surely is it.

But then they turn on him — even Eddie looks confused, which is a rather adorable look on him — the moment Steve tries to get a word in.

“You’re not coming with us, Steve.” That’s Dustin, and Steve just rolls his eyes, but then Robin joins in.

“Yeah, no, I’m with the gremlin on this, dingus.”

“Hey!”

“Oh shut it, Henderson.” She turns to him, her eyes softer but no less burning another hole inside Steve. “We can’t risk it, Steve.”

“Risk what?” It’s a challenge. His shoulders squared, his jaw clenched, he’s challenging her, and it’s cruel.

She holds his eyes, her expression icy, like he’s stupid. “We can’t risk you dying. We can’t risk you getting a seizure mid-fight or just by being in the Upside Down.”

“Hey, woah,” Eddie tries to get a word in, but Steve won’t hear him as the desperation, the loneliness, the feeling of being caged like a bird and still the only human left on a desolate planet, all that breaks free.

“We all know that dying in a fight is the only thing I’m good for anyway.”

The silence among their war council, as Max dubbed it, is deafening.

“What?” Lucas sounds small when he asks that, and Steve closes his eyes. He hadn’t meant for him to hear that. Any of them, actually. They weren’t supposed to know.

“Steve, that’s not true.” Dustin’s words are filled with disbelief and worry, and Steve hates the worry, it makes his skin crawl, it makes his heart race, it makes his fists clenched and it makes him want to scream again.

“What else then, huh?” he asks weakly. “What else is there? None of you even talk to me anymore since Starcourt. Since summer.”

“Because you were pulling away,” Nancy explains, though her words are weak and her mouth clicks shut when Steve looks at her.

“Because we’re scared.” Max this time, and Steve doesn’t want to look at her, doesn’t want to tell a child that she’s not allowed to be scared for him— not more than he is, anyway. It doesn’t make sense for him to be hurt. They don’t want him to die. That’s a good thing, right? They didn’t want to see him hurt, so they looked away. It makes sense.

But it also hurts.

Steve shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose before all but running from the trailer. He doesn’t make it far (“Stay close so we won’t have to worry”), just needs some fresh air and to sit down somewhere the world will become a bit less real again.

The stairs it is. He tries to breathe through the lump in his throat, clenching and unclenching his hands to get rid of the anger and the hurt and all that excess energy.

He doesn’t want to die, is the thing. The very thought makes him nauseous and panicky. He wants his life back. His car. The freedom to just jump in there and get away. He doesn’t want the cage or the worry or the hovering or the loneliness when he isolates himself from all that.

Face buried in his hands, Steve almost misses it when someone comes to sit beside him. The thick smell of leather and cigarettes tells him who it is without looking up.

Eddie doesn’t speak for a while, just sits with him as Steve calms down.

And then, after a while, he lights a cigarette and asks, “You get seizures, Harrington?”

Steve nods. “Sometimes.”

Eddie hums. “That sucks.”

He nods again, and then that’s that. But even though it was a rhetorical question and Eddie didn’t even need an answer, it feels pathetically good to be asked about something. About himself. It only makes the pit inside his chest deeper, cutting into his soul with a sharp edge, this tiny little moment of normalcy. He wants to cling to it. He wants to talk to Eddie. God, he hasn’t really talked to anyone in so long.

“Before Starcourt — remember, the mall? The fire? Yeah that was, uhm. More monster shit. And Russians who thought I was a spy and then… yeah. Anyway. Uh. We used to be friends, I think. The kids and I. They used to care — or I like to think that they did. And then I got one too many head injuries, and the seizures started, and then they… It became too much. For them, for me. And the caring stopped. And, like, it’s fine or whatever, but I still care, and I can’t let them do all that alone. I know that all I was good for was taking them somewhere with my car, but I can’t drive anymore, so now I’m just… I’m just Steve. No titles attached, no use or function or point.”

Eddie just stares at him, puzzled and intrigued and even a little sad, and Steve wants to laugh it off when the silence stretches.

“Sorry, that’s kind of a sob story, you—“

“Wait here,” Eddie says, stubbing out his cigarette before disappearing back into the trailer. Steve watches him with a confused frown but stays put. A minute later, the door flies open and a scandalised looking Max appears, followed by the rest of the crew.

“You what?!”

“Uh,” Steve blinks. “I what?”

“Eddie told us you think you’re useless and that we don’t like you and that all you were ever good for is driving us from A to B with, like, no personal value whatsoever,” Dustin fills in, sounding no less bewildered. “Is that true, Steve?”

And God, the kid is so good at making all his questions sound like dares that Steve instinctively wants to swallow and negate it, tell them that Eddie misheard, that he’s fine, that everything fine.

But then Robin’s whispered little, “Steve” stops him from doing that. In fact, the sadness and confusion on their faces makes the dams break once more, confronted with months of spiralling and no one to drag him out, no one to listen.

Tears spring to his eyes and he gets up from the stairs to properly face them. He shrugs. It’s as much of a confirmation as anything.

And then Dustin sprints forward and tackle-hugs him, burying his face in Steve’s chest with no intention to let go anytime soon.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles into Steve’s shirt and Steve runs a hand through his hair immediately.

“It’s okay, Dustin.”

“No! It’s fucking not okay, Steve, stop saying that. You’re my big brother, you’re my best friend, you’re my hero! You’re the coolest guy I know and nothing’s gonna change that, okay?”

“Then why’d you leave?” His voice is so small, but Dustin only hugs him tighter.

“Because you were hurting and I was… I feel like all of that is my fault.”

“Why would it be your fault, Dustin?”

He shrugs, and it breaks Steve’s heart. Dustin thinks everything is his fault just like Steve thinks it’s his.

“It’s me who got you into the thing with the Russians. I insisted. And you were tortured for it, Steve! You… You told us to go, and we did, and then we came back and you were— you-“

“Hey,” Steve whispers, curling himself around and over Dustin. “Hey, no, it’s okay. It’s not your fault. None of that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry I pulled away, Steve,” Dustin sniffles and looks up at him. “I swear it’s not because I think you’re useless. It’s just… I’m so scared.”

And it makes sense, somehow. The anger leaves Steve when he whispers, “Me too. And I don’t like it when you’re all scared and worried. I hate it.”

“I know. Sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Shut up.”

And then they’re both laughing with tears in their eyes. Lucas and Max join them with their own promises that Steve isn’t worthless to them.

“Did you read my letter? You know, the one if…”

“No,” Steve says. “You told me not to.”

“Right. Anyway, read it. Whatever happens, I want you to read it. Because you’re my brother and you mean too much for me to, like, never let you know. But, uh. Billy died. And I hated him, but it fucked me up. And then you almost died, and then you almost died again; and then you just… collapsed. And I thought, I cant do this again, not with someone I actually like. Not with you. And I didn’t wanna watch. I watched Billy. I… I can’t watch you die, Steve.”

She’s crying by the end of it, and Steve pulls her against his chest. Shit, he hadn’t meant to make anyone cry like that.

“It’s okay, Max, I get it.”

“Not okay,” she shakes her head again. “I know it’s not. But—“

“I know.” He’s stroking through her hair. “I know.”

“Uh, guys? I hate to break up the heartfelt confession time,” Eddie chimes in. “But I think our window is closing.”

Right. The end of the world.

With one last squeeze to Max’s shoulders, he lets her go and they gather their things. Discussions about Steve’s joining their mission have been put on hold while their window is still open. They can continue this later.

Nancy drives while Max holds Steve’s hand in the back. They don’t talk and she has her headphones on, letting Kate Bush work her magic, but it’s fine. It feels a bit like healing.

He catches Eddie’s eyes on the other side and holds them for a while. Eddie smiles before looking away, and Steve does the same.

---

In the end, Steve doesn't climb the rope with them. He stays behind in Eddie's trailer even though every fibre of his being screams at him to join. But Nancy has a point when she explains to him that she and Robin got this. It's the first time he stays behind, and he hopes it will be the last.

They hug him before leaving, all of them. Promises are made to talk about this later, after, and he nods.

"Go save the world for me," he tells Robin, holding her tight, unwilling to let go.

"Only for you," she promises, and kisses his cheek before pulling away. "You better be right here when we come back."

He shrugs and gives her an encouraging smile. "I've got nowhere else to be, Buckley. Now go." The last words are whispered and it feels like goodbye. Steve should join them, he should be there! But his head is pulsing and he knows that one wrong move could leave him half blind with a migraine, and they don't need one more handicap.

The one thing he can do, though, is helping them climb the rope, and it makes him feel ridiculously proud, seeing them land safely on the other side, smiling up (or down?) at him. Robin and Nancy wave one last time before heading off.

That leaves him alone with Eddie and Dustin. The latter is already climbing the rope, itching to finally do something, preparing the trailer for their plan.

Only Eddie is left, and Steve looks over at him.

"Will you be okay, Steve?"

"Sure."

Eddie sighs and looks up at the gate, disbelief and resignation and even a hint of fascination in his eyes.

"It should be you," he says, and Steve frowns, confused. "You're the hero here."

"No," Steve huffs, smiling at the metalhead. "No, I'm no hero. The real heroes are already up there, and in California. The real hero died after Starcourt. I'm just the driver who lost his license, the boy with the bat. The protector who needs to be protected."

Eddie looks at him again, that kind of intense stare, the one that shows Steve that Eddie sees something in him. He wonders what it is, but isn't sure he wants to know.

"I think you're wrong, Steve." He says it with such gentle conviction that it takes Steve's breath away for a second, and something passes between them as they hold each other's eyes.

Eddie opens his mouth to say something, but then–

"Eddie!" Dustin is calling for him from the other side, and the boys snap out of their daze.

Steve steps into Eddie's personal space and pulls him to his chest. "Make him pay," he says. "But stay safe. Come back, okay? First sign of danger, you abort mission. Come back, Eddie. I'll be right here."

"Yeah," Eddie rasps, and he squeezes Steve once more. "Catch me when I fall through that gate in two hours?"

Steve laughs, a sad little thing, and he pushes Eddie away from him, hands steady on his shoulders. "Sure, big boy."

"Hey, that's my part."

"Say it when you come back, then."

This thing passes between them again, and then Eddie goes to climb the rope. Steve's hands find their way to his hips, steadying him, but Eddie is strong enough to pull himself up without problem. Huh.

"In the meantime, wrap your head around the fact that you're the one I'm coming back for, pretty boy."

And then Eddie is gone. Steve watches as he falls through the gate, landing on the mattress with more elegance this time, and then he, too, grins down (or up?) at Steve.

He gives a little wave, and then he is alone.

Plenty of room to think when your friends have gone on a suicide mission and you're the one who has to stay behind. The one who will have to do the explaining when things go south. The one who will have to watch and listen, helpless.

It makes him regret the past few months, the self isolation, all the times he pulled back, all the times he didn't push for an explanation or a conversation, all the times he hadn't asked the kids if they're alright because he was too caught up in all the ways that he wasn't.

God, he wants them to be okay. He wants to talk about this, wants them to tell him he's more than the driver without a license, more than the protector who needs protecting. He wants Eddie to come back and explain what he meant, say what he wanted to say. He wants...

He wants his old life back. But more than that, he wants them in his new life just as much. He wants to be brave enough for this new life and find a new purpose. Create one if he can't find it.

But he can't do it alone. He refuses to do it alone even one day more.

"Come back to me," he whispers, looking up at the gate from where he's sitting on the floor, back against the wall. "Come on guys, you've got this. Please work. Please, make the plan work."

And then, miraculously, it does. Eddie falls into his arms with an undignified squeal and the rest of the Party soon follow. They're unscathed, miraculously, and Steve cries as he holds them, all of them, in a group hug that makes the trailer smell like relief and grief and a new life ahead of them. Slowly, with an unnatural sound, the gate above them closes, and then silence reigns.

They cling to him now. Refuse to let go. Good thing he has nowhere to go as Lucas gasps and sobs into his chest, explaining what happened, that Jason almost destroyed the walkman, that Max could have died. And Steve runs shaky hands through his hair, pulling in Max, too, so the three of them can just hold each other for a second.

Dustin and Eddie are hugging beside them, and Nancy and Robin hold hands, a different kind of horror in their eyes, but they smile wetly at Steve as their eyes meet.

It's over. It's done.

They did it. They really did it.

Steve closes his eyes and holds Lucas and Max tighter. They don't complain.

---

Three days later, Steve's house is brimming with life again like it hasn't in months. Turns out, Hopper survived, and he hugged Steve for a whole five minutes, telling him he did good, he did great, he's a hero. Again with that shit that Steve doesn't believe, but he doesn't have the heart to tell Hop, so he just buries deeper into their embrace.

"It's good you're alive," he tells him, and the Chief sobs out a laugh.

"You too, kid. This town would be lost without you."

"Yeah, right," Steve laughs back, and then that is that.

Except, it isn't, because when he returns to the living room with Hop, Joyce and El in tow, everyone's standing, looking at him with timid expressions. Robin and Eddie are holding hands this time, and so are all the kids. They all look like they have something to say, and the only thing missing is a large banner that says INTERVENTION.

"Uh, what's going on?"

Dustin is the first to clear his throat, but only after Erica kicks him. "We wanted to apologise. For leaving you when you needed us the most."

Oh. Steve's shaking his head, placating words already on the tip of his tongue, ready to explain to them how that's not their fault, how that was all him, he could have said something, he could have asked, he could have–

"Steve," Nancy says, effectively cutting off any protest he could have voiced. "Just listen, okay? Don't say anything."

He looks at Joyce, who nods, and Hopper who looks about as lost as he feels.

Dustin continues then. "You deserved better, Steve, you really, really did. We all did, I think, but you... You put yourself in harm's way from the get-go."

"Yeah, you came to protect me when you didn't even like me." Jonathan this time. "No thoughts, just protection. I owe my life to you. Every single one in this room does, y'know."

"And what you got for it is severe head trauma and... us abandoning you." Nancy.

"You're not just the driver, Steve. You never were just a driver to us." Hell, even Mike is in on this? "You're annoying, you suck, and you don't even try not to act like you're everyone's big brother."

"You're family, Steve." Oh, baby Byers. That's what gets his eyes stinging and his lip trembling, so he bites down on it so they won't have to see. It's futile with the way they're smiling.

"Yeah. You're so much more than our babysitter," Lucas explains. "You're the best basketball coach."

"You actually listen to my music and read comics with me," Max continues with a smile. "You suck just a little less than everyone else in this town."

"Hey!"

"No, she has a point."

Steve's not keeping up with the who's who anymore, he's trying too hard to keep it together.

"You teach me new words," El says, smiling. "You give me your clothes, you take me shopping, you teach me how to deal with meanies."

And the list goes on. Everyone has something to say to him, something beyond the ways he can be useful. Something that he is to them, something meaningful, something that sounds a lot like purpose and family.

"And we were so scared, because you were hurt. Because of us. You were protecting us, and look where it got you. You're a hero, Steve. As real as they get, you are one."

"More than Wonder Woman," Max agrees. "More than Superman. You're Steve! And that's... He’s our hero."

"He’s our brother," Dustin says.

"He’s my son," Joyce adds, taking his hand.

"He’s our friend," Erica, Mike and El say in unison.

“He’s the one we stay for.” Robin’s eyes shine as she smiles.

“And the one we come back for.” Eddie’s smile is gentle, confident, and captivating. Steve can’t look away, even through his own tears.

---

In the following months, Robin gets her license and Eddie develops a sixth sense for whenever Steve needs to just sit in a car and ride around town, watching the street lamps pass and letting them lull him to sleep. There’s an upside to being a passenger, he finds, because he falls asleep like this a few times, always waking when Eddie kills the engine. He drives for hours sometimes, admitting with a blush high on his cheeks that he didn’t want to wake Steve.

Somewhere on the highway to Indianapolis, between three and four in the morning, Steve looks at Eddie in the soft glow of the night, and finds that he’s fallen in love.

And in the weeks and months and years that follow, he realises that that’s something new he’s good at.

#stranger things #steve & the party #steddie #steddie fic #but also not really. steddie is just something that happens along the way #this was meant to be short but uh. uh. whoops? #hi anna i am sorry feel free to ignore this i could have made this easier in everyone but they’re teenagers with trauma dammit #dio words #actually i just wanted an excuse to make steve sad. if you know me you know

[cocteaucherry]

trials and tribulations

summary- falling in love with your sworn enemy was not something you planned.

cws- p&p au/ bridgerton au, inaccurate use of regency language, 18+, misogyny, talk of pregnancy, foul language, future smut in later chapters, slow slow burn, LENGTHY descriptions

(a/n- the first chapter was running into 2k words so I split it up and edited it <33 I hope you enjoy

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”

“So it's true that they're rather wealthy?”

“Well ONE of them are rather wealthy, the other not so much.”

“Doesn’t matter if they're both handsome.

“Ugh shoko don't say that”

You sat on the uncomfortable couch stopping your knitting to take part in the conversation, Shoko and Utahime, your lifelong friends sat across from you rather giddy about the wealthy newcomers

“What? It's true.” Shoko grinned her brown hair only reaching past her chin, “Makes the whole ‘being bound’ for life thing much easier.”

Utahime nodded, standing to walk across the small parlor, she sat on the small stool of the pianoforte playing a single note. “That, if men are gonna set the standard we might as well use it to our advantage.”

You rolled your eyes setting your needle and thread to the side, “So by finding an attractive wealthy man is taking advantage?”

“Yeah” they said in unison before giggling.

“Come on Y/n! Who really wants to be married with many children before twenty-five, some women may but not me! I'd like my twenties to amount to more than just my womb.” utahime exclaimed before tightly shutting her mouth when your mother walked in.

While she looked like a term cold woman she was really the best caring mother you could wish for in these times, “Good evening ladies,” your mother nodded with a curt smile, “I'm guessing you all have heard the news?”

“The well-off lads with handsome faces coming to town? No we haven't,” you smirked standing up before your mother’s hands were immediately attached to your shoulders, “This is your time my dear! For you to make your mark and to finally marry!”

Utahime and Shoko had to stifle their laughter.

You looked back with an annoyed grimace on your face as your mother moved to grip your hands, “My dear, you know why I worry, I worry for all of you like my own children.. As you all approach spinster age we mothers grow worried.”

Shoko and Utahime groaned in comparison their mothers had given them the same speech, “Now, I want the both of you to get on home and prepare for their welcoming ball-”

“WE WERE INVITED-” all of your voices rose in a confused squeal before your mother hushed them.

“Invitations were sent out this afternoon-”

“Mother you didn't tell me?!” you whispered yelled as you rushed over to utahime.

“I was going to-”

“Utahime can I please borrow your ribbons?” you pleaded.

“But that's my favorite!”

“Come onnnn pleaseee”

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

“So his name is Satoru Gojo?” you and Shoko stared at the invitation, very impressed by the amount of time and possibly money spent into the thick piece of paper.

“Yeah, I've never seen him but I've heard things. Like how he's conceited and doesn't exactly rub people the right way.” Utahime scoffed at the frill on her delicate dress.

“Oh so your ideal husband?” you grinned jokingly as you felt Shoko flick your forehead, “Ow!” you hissed in pain, whining , rubbing your forehead.

“Thank you Shoko, how far are we?” Utahime peeked out the carriage window to immediately be star struck, “look look!” she pointed, and you a shoko to foot to look out.

You all had passed by the manor countless times, nothing was particularly jaw-dropping about its size but that was it, looking at it from a new angle it was glorious. The overgrown fauna had been trimmed and lights took over all the dark areas, different flowers had overtaken the walls and it was truly breathtaking.

“This is..”

“Amazing, yeah,” you said breathtakingly as the carriage came to an abrupt stop, you heard the voice of your mother and father ahead of you (the adults had opted for a separate carriage) the door to the carriage opened as she quietly ushered you out, “Come come!”

Once you all had approached the entrance you were hit with the strong smell of flowers and expensive perfume, your nose scrunched as you all stepped through the wide open doors. marble statues and flowers hung everywhere, “Think they have enough flowers?” you whispered to Shoko with a grin as you tried your best to not bump into any of the guests.

“We just arrived and I'm already overstimulated.” Utahime groaned before getting stopped by your mother, “Before you leave remember you are here to make a marvelous impression, don't disappoint me.” she stuck a finger out before placing a kiss on your cheek and disappearing into the crowd of people.

“Well, ladies.” Shoko hummed with a grin, “I say we go dance,” she grinned wrapping an arm around Utahime’s neck, “Actually, I'm going to find the wine, you two have fun.” she quickly walked away leaving Shoko to scoff and immediately grab your hand, “C’monnn y/n.. Please..”

“Fine! Fine! Let's go!” you giggled,

As the band played loudly you and Shoko continuously danced, eventually forgetting the whole reason you had come, “Shokoo, how are you not tiredd?” you panted continuing to spin around your dance partner, “goodness you're too weak.” she grinned at you spinning around her own dance partner.

The music had halted and Shoko immediately fell to your side, “And I'm weak?” you laughed smirking as you gripped onto the brunette's arm.

The room suddenly went quiet, hushed mummers filled the room as the guests around you stepped back. “He’s here he’s here!” Shoko whispered quietly tugging on your hand to strap back, “Gojo?-“ you were shushed immediately as your attention was bought to the wide opened door.

A tall slender frame, a beautifully dark blue tailored suit was complimented by his snow white locks, his bright blue eyes scanned the room as a small smile appeared on his face. Accompanying him was a person who you hadn’t seen before, long jet black black hair tied into a bun, his jet black suit offsetting his amber eyes.

“Who’s that?” You whispered to Shoko keeping your eyes on the men as they began to walk towards the cleared aisle everyone had made, “One with the white hair obviously Satoru Gojo, the one next to him I’m guessing is his trusted friend Suguru Geto.”

You nodded confusingly as people bowed next to you, you and Shoko bowed in tandem as they walked by, Geto spared a small glance to you before hurriedly looking away the same stoic look taking place on his face.

“Hm-“ you sighed quietly taking your hands off the fabric of your dress as the two men made their way down the walkway, once they reached the end the music resumed and the breath you didn't know you were holding came out. Were you that nervous?

As you were lost in thought you were quickly bought out by the hands of your mother gripping your soldier, “Did you see how handsome he was? We must introduce you immediately!” your mother pleaded, grabbing your hand, you turned to Shoko with pleading eyes and a smile appeared in her face, “Yeah come on!”

Oh this woman-

before you could release a string of insults you were being pulled away by Shoko, your mother following suit. “Shoko! Please please please-” you shut your mouth as you stood in front of the infamous man known as Satoru Gojo and his friend.

You felt your palms begin to sweat as you were placed upon the beautiful man, your nervousness only skyrocketed as you felt the suffocating glare of Suguru Geto cast over you.

“Mr Gojo and Mr Geto.” your mother bowed with a smile, “My daughter y/n l/n and her friend Shoko Ieiri.” as you and Shoko began to bow you were met with a laugh coming from the white-haired man.

“Please, there's no need for bowing.. I'm not that formal,”

“Satoru..” his black-haired friend began as Gojo quickly shushed him.

“So Miss Shoko and Y/N.. Oh I almost forgot about my wet blanket here, Mr. Suguru Geto, careful he doesn't care for lively things.”

A vein appeared above Geto’s eyebrow as he clenched his jaw. “I'm the one with actual sense.” he quickly retorted which caused Gojo to frown.

“Well I'll leave you both to it,” your mother interrupted, placing a kiss on your cheek before whispering, “Don't mess this up.” she plastered on a smile before walking away into the crowd of people.

Shoko cleared her throat before looking at the two men, “So, how are you two settling into the town?”

“Lovely-”

“Horrible-”

Gojo looked over annoyingly at his friend flicking his arm, “What he means is-”

“No no, please enlighten me Mr. Geto” his body tensed at you saying his name, “What is so horrible about this town?” you questioned a sickly sweet smile taking over your features.

“For one, the architecture is overly simplified-”

“Oh, what a surprise a small town doesn't fit Mr. Geto’s standard.”

Gojo grinned a small laugh leaving his mouth, “Well, you both sound lovely with a great sense of humor.”

“Well thank you, I think it’s time me and my friend get going.. we enjoyed talking with both of you.” Shoko curtsied as you did too, you turned and left Shoko following after.

Once you were out of earshot Gojo looked towards his friend with a grin, “they’re both rather cute aren't they?”

Geto scoffed, shaking his head, “Miss. Ieiri seems a rather pleasant Miss. L/N I’m not so sure.”

The white haired male laughed, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Maybe I’ll try my luck with her then?”

A vein appeared in Geto’s neck as his fist tightened and Gojo pointed it out, “Got you, you’re too easy to read my dear friend..” he smirked, walking away into the crowd.

Suguru shook his accusation off his eyes searching for your hair but couldn’t be found, he DIDNT want anything to do with you.

At least that’s what he told himself.

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu x reader #jjk x reader #x reader #jjk imagines #geto suguru #geto x reader #geto angst #gojo satoru #geto x female reader #suguru geto #geto smut #regency #pride and prejudice #bridgerton

[quoththemaiden]

A short (~1k) scene inspired by Chapter 9 of @mrghostrat's absolutely glorious Big Name Feelings human AU fic. Hope you like arms?

"C'mon, angel, not even gonna crack a smile at that one? Whales, get it? Whales."

Aziraphale felt like his cheeks were on fire from trying to keep a straight face at Crowley's increasingly terrible puns. "I would hate to tacitly encourage this behavior."

"Pfft, you love it." Crowley grinned at him, far past being undaunted and fully into the realm of being energized by Aziraphale's failed attempts at stoicism.

"You're utterly ridiculous." Aziraphale didn't even bother trying to make it sound like an insult, and the half of the screen taken up by his webcam made it clear his cheeks were as pink as they felt. "And I can't help but feel like you're stalling. Hadn't we agreed to be actually productive today?" Aziraphale didn't mind, really; he did want to keep making steady progress on his art, but if his life could consist of coming home from work and just unwinding with Crowley...

...but, well, that wasn't the purpose of this call.

Crowley groaned. "Yeah, yeah. What a taskmaster."

"It is my job to protect you from rabid fans, after all," Aziraphale teased right back.

"O Brave Guardian, protect me from procrastination!"

"That sounds rather harder than a dragon, I'm afraid. But if you don't get to work, I won't be able to work either, and then you won't get to see the finished piece."

"Urk—" Crowley made a strangled noise and finally reached for his mouse. "You'll actually be working on it?"

Aziraphale nodded before adjusting his webcam to show his tablet a bit more. "I really need to get more practice with this, to get half as confident as I am with physical paints."

"I've seen the drawings you've done! They're fucking brilliant."

Aziraphale laughed. "You've said that about everything I've shown you. I'm starting to think I should send you some stick figures as a test."

"Those would be the most adorable fucking stick figures ever. You could draw a whole comic of just stick figures and I'd reblog it a hundred times."

"That's about what I'd expect you to say, yes." Crowley opened his mouth to protest that his compliments were always earnest, and Aziraphale cut him off. "Weren't you going to start writing?"

"Ngghh, right, yeah. Alright, lemme just pull up my docs and then we'll get started bodydoubling for real." Crowley clicked over to screenshare his window as he opened his fic notes. He'd long since stopped hiding anything from Aziraphale; getting to bounce ideas off of him was too invigorating, and his heart always sang at getting to write down his name with official beta credit. (He'd also long since stopped pretending to himself that he'd ever felt quite the same way about any other beta.)

"Good lord." Aziraphale sounded more than faintly appalled, and Crowley felt offended for a moment before taking a proper look at what was on his screen. It was currently showing the notes he'd made at 3 AM this morning, when he'd woken up from a dream and jotted down what had, at the time, felt like a brilliant scene. As always, he'd had his eyes mostly-closed the whole time and his swipes had been clumsy at best, but as long as it got the general point across, he was always satisfied. It only wound up being a usable scene about half the time, but he wasn't about to turn down free inspiration when he could get it. He quickly read through the imagery he'd written down.

They switch rolled over and opened their eyes. In the still morning sunlight they could set the witchfinder still sleeping cloudy enough to touch: his head ears cradled on his arms, the  misos slack with sleep but still clearly there under surface. The words knew from experience that if he were awakened stable the strength would flour back into them in an instant ray for a fight. The wishes couldn't help but think odd other things they might but tray for as well

Crowley paled. "I— that—"

"I mean, it's. Well. It's rather avant-garde."

Crowley froze. "I, uh—"

"'The misos?' And 'flour?'"

Crowley stuttered out of his bluescreen and hastily opened another tab, the screenshare automatically switching over. Aziraphale had read it, but he clearly hadn't actually understood it. As long as he didn't give him enough time to crack the cipher that was 3 AM notetaking, Crowley could bluff his way through it. "Zuh. Yeah. Wrote that down in the middle of the night when I got an idea of where I wanted to start the next scene off."

"And you could recognize any of that?" The camera jostled a little as Aziraphale shook his head. "I suppose I wouldn't do any better if I tried sketching out an idea in the dark." He picked up his stylus and started doodling simple shapes, warming up and re-acclimatizing himself to the responsiveness of the device. He was still getting used to the new medium, but he was finally starting to see a path forward to making a digital art style that felt authentically his own.

"Yessss." Crowley bit his tongue to cut off the guilty hissing. It definitely didn't help that the webcam was doing a very awkward job of catching the tablet screen but showed a very distracting hint of Aziraphale's forearms. The forearms he had, at 3 AM, apparently woken up from a dream about and been so inspired by that he'd felt the need to immortalize them in fanfiction.

"Well, I shall be interested in seeing how that gets transformed into comprehensible English."

"Right, definitely." Crowley was typing gibberish and backspacing over it quickly, more to hide how much attention he was having to devote to this conversation than out of an actual need to warm up his fingers. "Right, definitely focusing on writing now!"

Aziraphale laughed as he cleared his tablet screen and pulled up his WIP, shifting into concentration mode himself. He did enjoy the early days they had spent where their hours of "bodydoubling" were really nothing more than talking and laughing together, but being able to be quietly productive with someone else, knowing they were there with you without needing to be in the same room, that they were sharing your same wavelength without needing to say a word... that simple sense of togetherness brought with it such a deep feeling of comfort that he thought it might be an even more profound, longer-lasting sense of joy than their early days of giddy laughter had given. The strokes of his stylus turned smoother and more confident as he got into the flow, his eyes focused on his own screen and only vaguely aware of the lines of text growing across Crowley's.

Eventually, Crowley calmed down as well, and the text growing on his screen even started to make sense. And he made sure it had absolutely nothing to do with forearms.

--

Translation of the deleted 3 AM scene:

The witch rolled over and opened their eyes. In the early morning sunlight, they could see the witchfinder still sleeping close enough to touch. His head was cradled on his arms, the muscles slack with sleep but still clearly there under the surface. The witch knew from experience that if he were awakened, the strength would flow back into them in an instant, ready for a fight. The witch couldn't help but think of other things they might be ready for as well.

#good omens #good omens fanfiction #bnf au #my writing #fanfiction of fanfiction #i want to eat every text message and discord exchange in that fic whole #love ya bilvy

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Since the Neighborhood are adventurers, I'd like to imagine they travel by sea a fair amount of times too! A nice boat trip while occasionally breaking out into a sea shanty, eh? (And for gits and shiggles, to keep up with the whole.. Eddie in water joke, I imagine the poor guy is clumsy enough to go overboard. He may not be unconscious during it, but it wouldn't make it any less funny with the group desperately trying to pull him back aboard-)

OH OH OH allow to ramble at length about this!!! what an idea!!! i fucking love boats & the ocean & being on the water so this ask is checking all my boxes rn

first i imagine that the length of their trips varies wildly, along with the quality due to the glorious variation in weather & bodies of water. and i'm choosing to believe this universe uses tall ships instead of like... fantasy steam ships. because i fucking love tall ships. the sails, the rigging, the elegance... an absolute bitch to maintain and maneuver <3

i imagine that depending on the ship, captain, and size of the crew, the Neighborhood may be required to help out to earn their keep. especially since they're a crew of nine eight, and some ships are woefully understaffed!

I'd imagine that Poppy sometimes takes the cook's job if the crew is currently lacking one (or if the cook wants a fucking break, jeebus it's a demanding job. there's a reason ship cooks in moves/tv are always stern & serious). Barnaby can probably charm his way into doing nothing but provide music/entertainment (much to Sally's aggravation). everyone else are plain deckhands

of course i imagine that that doesn't always happen! plenty of ships are probably content to just take their coin and tranport them. some of them (Eddie, Poppy) may still wheedle their way into helping out though. they strike me as characters that can't Not help

who i imagine loves their little water journeys: Barnaby, Wally, Sally, Wormie

neutral: Frank, Julie

hates it: Poppy, Howdy, Eddie

allow me to provide reasoning!!

Barnaby's impeccable balance probably means that he's stable as a rock even in choppy waters, and i'm reasoning that he doesn't get seasick either. his vestibular system is as solid as his sea legs! he probably finds the whole experience relaxing as anything. He gets to just recline on the bowsprit's base or wherever he isn't in the way & smoke/play his accordion/nap.

Wally just has such a love of life and new things, so why wouldn't he love being on the water? it's different! it's new every time! there are ample things to learn about and do! Home probably keeps his systems stable so that he doesn't have to deal with seasickness. though it probably takes him a little bit to find his sea legs... catch him stumbling around like a lil newborn lamb. sometimes he is facedown on the deck <3 i imagine he'd enjoy going aloft!

Sally would probably love the inherent romanticism and adventure of it all. Who knows what dangers and glory they may face! I bet she writes up a storm during this time - plenty of story material! food for the imagination! what does Anne say... Scope for the imagination, i believe! i bet she also loves having a captive audience. Literally. they're stuck on this ship with her <3

so many lines for Wormie to climb... so many little places to crawl into... new people to trick into giving her treats... down time where the Neighborhood is relaxing in one place. abundant time for affection!

Frank probably doesn't have strong feelings about it. It's a boring ship with no bugs or things to do. Except when he manages to rope crew members into having a lil impromptu fight club. Or when the Neighborhood is put to work - i wonder if he'd find the maintenance soothing or pleasant... or if he'd relish in the hard work of pulling lines

Julie is likely in a similar boat (ha) as Frank. once the initial "wow! whoah!" wears off, it can get boring! and games are limited - there's only so much you can do on a ship (depending on the size of the ship of course), and there might be strict rules to keep passengers out of the crew's way and to lower risk. She probably entertains herself by "bothering" her friends and the crew & cloudgazing.

Poppy... do i need to explain? wooden ship on the ocean, which i understand can be terrifying. who knows what lurks below the waters? if the weather will change on a dime? if one of the flammable things on board catches fire? if the ship hits something? etc. I imagine it's impossible to get her to go above decks. They have to literally push her statue-frozen body onto the ship when they first board

Howdy! honestly i just think it'd be really fucking funny if he gets Violently seasick! like, curled into a ball in his bunk & involuntarily making agonized noises. he sounds like a ghost w/ all the pained moaning. his sea legs suck unless he stances all four at the right distance to anchor himself in place. he's a weak, sickly, fragile little thing, take mercy on him... he doesn't even have the strength left to swindle or sell...

Eddie. now we get to the point of anon's ask - his sea legs would be nonexistent. he's staggering and stumbling all over the place. the ship just barely tilts and he's smacking into a mast or careening across the deck. and of course, hitting the guardrails at precisely the right speed/angle to allow him to tumble overboard. i bet this happens enough that every time the Neighborhood is so much as on a dock, there is at least one person either holding his arm or acting as a barrier between him and the water. as soon as they get on any ship, he's immediately sent below decks. any attempt he makes to come up is instantly blocked.

there's a lot of both comedic and angst potential there. small ship, calm waters? comedic. some neighbors are playing cards, there's on off-screen splash & Frank immediately sighs and gets up all "god damn it, Eddie-". lmao im imagining him floating there and rapid-fire blabbering in fear 'cause there's a shark (it's not a shark. it's a dolphin. everyone on board is so unimpressed.) he's sobbing in fear as they pull him in <3

but angst? imagine there's a storm. imagine it's an all-hands-on-deck situation, every available hand is needed, and Eddie is strong as fuck - he'd be a monster at pulling lines. probably wouldn't even need to sweat them. but a violently rocking ship, slick decks, maybe even waves splashing over the deck... oof i can so easily imagine Eddie slipping & sliding right over the side. maybe while the others watch. maybe they try to grab him, but they're too late. and in such a horrible storm, there's not much they can do - it's dark, the water is incredibly turbulent, the ship can't turn around easily, there's torrential rain. a high stress situation! i'm imagining Frank grabbing a lifebuoy, firmly fastening it to a pin, and then throwing himself overboard after Eddie. something to think about! (i'm imagining that after the storm clears up enough, everyone rushes to the side to check. Eddie & Frank are trailing after the boat, lashed to the buoy and exhausted. maybe a little banged up, but overall fine!)

and then yeah.... oh the shanties Barnaby could lead... the whole ship sings! and then them all in their bunks (or in their hammocks!) in the [insert term for living quarters here, it can vary] when its sleepytime. y'all would not believe the shenanigans that can occur in the fo'c'sle (or the main hold, basically wherever the ship's sleeping quarters are), especially before actual sleep occurs. peak silly time.

there's a lot of potential here, thank you anon!

like now i'm thinking - what about sea monsters? or jobs that Require them to go on the water, as in the job takes place on a ship? ocean battles! ocean searches!

#since eddie is pretty much banished to the holds no matter what #i imagine he & poppy are the main neighbors looking after howdy in his frail sickly state #im imagining eddie sitting on the bunk with howdy in his lap #howdy feels someone petting his hair and blearily cracks his eyes open to be all '...barn...?' #barnaby: *is actually eddie* #howdy: *groans & squeezes his eyes shut* oh god not You... #eddie: *mildly offended* hey now... #im also having a lot of fun imagining frank & eddie after they get reeled in after the storm debacle #they'd just flop onto the deck. exhausted. waterlogged. still holding hands though #they'd probably end up with colds... snifflin and sippin tea while cuddled up in a bunk under the same blanket... #everyone hovering nervously because for quite a while there they actually thought they Lost them both for good.... #SO MUCH POTENTIAL #i imagine that howdy actively avoids jobs where he knows they'll have to take a boat #oh his dismay and horror on the times he comes along and they have to unexpectedly go on the water.... #even if its just a short trip across a river you know howdy is bent over the stern & feeding the fishes #LMAO WAIT #im imagining wally going over too but in a really funny way. he's standing normally but when the ship tilts too hard #he just slides across the deck and right off the ship. not even blinking or moving. he just goes 'oh! im sliding now' #and everyone turns just in time to watch him vanish over the side w/ perfectly posture #i think this is a situation where barnaby would toss his hat to the side and jump right in after him lmao #but in a funny way! the waters are Calm! the ship is Slow! he climbs right back on with wally (perfectly fine) slung over his shoulder #home lectures wally the best they can w/ the language barrier <3 and barn resolves to teach wally how to swim #because apparently that's not in his skillset! he just falls in the water and Sinks! well. he floats for a minute until he inevitably sinks #& he does not react to it at all. he's exact opposite of eddie on the 'how they handle being in water' scale #eddie: lowkey panics. swims for safety #wally: lets it happen <3

[ahqkas]

001. THE MAIDEN VOYAGE OF RMS TITANIC

❛ i can't help but feel somewhat like my body marred my soul. handmade beauty sealed up by two man-made walls ❜

PAIRING! simon ‘ghost’ riley x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS! Onboard the RMS Titanic, social boundaries blur as a high-class woman's gaze meets that of a man from the lower echelons. In an instant, their eyes lock, kindling an unexpected fascination that lingers until their next encounter

WORD COUNT! 2.6k

WARNINGS! nothing major, the plot is building !! mean mother and bad relationship w her, brief mention of death

NOTES! ahhh so excited for this series even though idk if someone's interested enough to read the whole thing ,, enjoy the journey and thank u for sticking around if u do !!

SERIES M.LIST! NEXT PART!

© ahqkas - all rights reserved. even when credited, these works are prohibited to be reposted, translated or modified

The sky is nothing but a canvas of light, letting the artist use their talent and imagination to create something unique for a human's eye to catch and cling onto, like a child to its mother. The sight was something natural, yet it still warmed hearts of people around. Even though the eye is plain and the beauty of the nature is too brilliant to be seen by it, it still manages to capture a lot of attention and curious gazes of those who show enough interest and let themselves be pulled in. Just like the beauty of the glorious ship, Titanic.

The world is simple, but the beauty of it is complex and difficult to crack.

The giant of a boat robbed many of their breaths away and caged them with her unforgettable appearance like a simple flower in the meadows. She was constructed of thousands and hundreds with the deepest care to make her look as appealing as she was pictured to be, to steal away hearts with all of her glory. The luxurious ship was meant to be an eye catcher, so that's what they made her to be. Many men even died in the process of her building, but their sacrifice was worthy the heart shaped stares she was bringing upon herself. They put their tears, their blood, and their sweat into perfection and now she was swaying on the gentle waves in the deck of Southampton, England, waiting to outshine the stars themselves. The unsinkable ship, as they said. The ship of dreams.

The distant singing of seagulls wavered through the air along with the chorus of chaotic goodbyes of people who already boarded the ship to their loved ones below, shouting about how they're gonna miss them or how they'll bring a gift from New York once they return home to their awaiting embrace. Lingering words and held breaths painted a canvas of poignant parting, heartbeats echoing their farewell. It was messy but sweet at the moment, the promise of returning in the air as the last warning of departure was echoing in the air from the captain.

Goodbyes were bittersweet yet freeing sometimes, and you wished you could say your goodbye to the life you've been living since the day you were born. The cause of your anguish was simply because of your social status, standing between the snob and rich people like you belonged in the place like them.

You didn't.

You weren't like your mother, who only respected and liked people with the same social status like her (the high class, or better said the first class) and you certainly weren't like her in the way she couldn't even look in an eye to a person with a lower class than her. She spoke of them lowly, like their hands have never touched gold and silver like hers did every day. She thought of them lowly, like she was something more than them in the society.

You weren't like your fiancé, König, who you could learn to love in the depths of your big heart if it wasn't for his constant actions to please your mother. He wasn't really that bad but he wanted to fit in and that changed his way of thinking and acting. He started agreeing more with your mother on things he didn't before and the way he did things resembled hers in some way. You couldn't like him anymore after he changed and that left you fluttering your wings in the golden cage your mother trapped you in with her mindset.

However, you were like your father. He was an old man, but he wore his heart on the sleeve of his expensive suit and the words he let out of his mouth were carefully thought through before he let them reach the ears of others. There was nothing but kindness in his blue eyes full of wisdom and he made sure you'd take all the good from him once he was long gone. John was the opposite from your mother, he didn't think differently of other people and treated them all with the same kind of respect until they did something to change his mind. You couldn't put a finger on the thought of how your courteous father ended up with someone as nasty as your mother. It seemed like everyone who walked upon the planet got their piece of love, the question was in which form you'd receive it and if you accepted it.

The voice of your mother, fake sweetness dripping from it like the sticky ice cream had streamed down your tiny hand once the sun shined bright and the warmth of the weather was too much for the cold treat, reached your ears and it sounded like a chalk on a board. Many would say the singing from the gulls was annoying and unpleasant to ears, but you supposed they haven't heard your mother's voice yet.

"At least act like you want to be here, [Name]. You're a lady so act like it. Smile."

Her judgmental words always knew how to get into your heart. No matter how thick walls you built around the muscle to protect it, her cruelty found its way to pierce a path and get through. The words of almost inhumanity made your poor heart bleed, then heal enough for you to forget how mean she can be before they attacked again and that process repeated and repeated without any signs of stopping.

'Who said I even wanted to be here.'

You could only thought in your head because according to her, it was unlady like to speak your mind up and another lecture from the woman you called your mother would only bring you a headache.

'With you from all the people.'

König placed his hand on the small of your back in a silent plea to keep moving forward and you did so, slowly continuing in your path of exploring the ship. His touch brought you comfort in the young days where you've been in love and all over him but those days were long gone. If only he didn't betray your trust like that. And again, you could only blame your mother for that. You saw him nod his head at your mother's words and the urge to push his hand away was stronger than before.

John was walking in front of you with your mother's arm in the crook of his elbow, his other hand resting lovingly at the top of hers, thick fingers occasionally brushing against her knuckles from time to time. He was a gentle man and when he loved, he loved hard and to no end. A personality trait you always admired in the old man.

The man looked over his shoulder at you and König, his eyes twinkling with amusement and excitement while he sent you a wink before he turned his attention to your mother once again. "Give her a break, my love. This was all a sudden opportunity so understand she's a bit . . . well, let's just enjoy the trip."

The old man was all over the opportunity of being on the surface of the giant Titanic and he made clear everyone around him knew it. His love for big ships and ocean was as old as his love for your mother and the excitement he held in himself now was like a child's on Christmas. You didn't want to ruin this moment for him so you forced tight smiles at the people you passed by as you walked on the wooden floor. You had to admit though, even you were robbed of your breath when you saw the unsinkable ship for the first time.

The corset of your dress felt like it was tightening with every step you took and the thought of suffocating there on the spot was welcomed into your restless mind. It would be better than the play pretend game you were showing to people around you and most importantly, you'd be free to fly away from the cage and never return back.

You wanted to turn around, say you didn't feel well or that you forgot to unpack the paintings you took with you, come up with something to convince your parents and fiancé to leave you for a moment so you could clear your head.

A friendly breeze welcomed your uneasy mood as it calmed and ran along your skin like a gentle touch of fingers drawings shapes on your face. You closed your eyes with minimal effort as they felt heavy and let yourself enjoy the simple moment of nature. The salt air entered your nostrils while the wind caressed your skin, your thoughts finally shutting off as the voices and footsteps of your family became more and more distant.

It was just you and your heart now.

Your head moved on its own the moment you felt shivers run down your spine, making you shudder and tense your fingers as they gripped onto the railing you and König were leaning against. The feeling reminded you of an innocent animal, watched by a sinful carnivore. A prey stalked by its predator. Your eyes opened by an instinct and connected with ones that made you feel that way.

And your breath was taken away just like before when you saw Titanic for the first time this day.

Within the Titanic's elegance, an enigmatic stranger appeared in your sight. Shadows clung to him, whispers of intrigue trailing his steps as he returned your stare. Curiosity beckoned, locking gazes and weaving a connection impossible to break and it’s not like you wanted to end whatever was happening.

You weren't a stranger to unwanted attention, you received it all the time as a little kid who danced ballet for the selfish eyes of your mother and you received it even now years later when people saw you with the large man of your fiancé by your side. The attention was all but wanted and you had the urge to hide from that but his attention on you felt somehow different. You didn't feel the tinge of egocentric gaze from him and you certainly didn't feel like he thought any better or worse of you. You were simply just a stranger to him, one that seemed to catch his eyes.

It's probably because it wasn't a look of judgement on his masked face, but rather one of curiosity and intrigue and you welcomed the sudden attention in. The owner was a man, a large one, though he wasn't as big as König, it was clear he was still towering over most of those people amongst him from the C-Deck. Even from the distance you could sense the mystery he was giving off and that made you curious yourself. He wore a dark colored jacket with the hood over his head as he was leaning against a railing like you, his wandering gaze never leaving your form. The weather was fine, warm enough for you to feel good in the short sleeved dress, so the hood threw you off a little but what caught your attention the most was the mask. The skull patterned clothing was hiding his nose, jaw and lips from your gaze as you drank in the appearance of the stranger. He was intriguing and if you could, you'd crack the mystery of him.

You couldn't see well in the distance he was standing in but you were pretty sure his dark eyes never left your figure, even as you turned your head away from him and broke the eye contact. The contact was intense, something you've never experienced before and to your surprise, you wanted more of it even though it sent shivers down your spine. It was like he was pulling you in and you didn't fight against it.

König sent you a concerned glance from the corner of his bright eyes as he stood next to you with his arms crossed on the ship's railing. "You okay? It seemed like you zoned out for a bit here, Schatz."

You turned your head towards him, ignoring the way you still felt his eyes on you before giving your fiancé a tight smile that wasn't convincing at all. "I'm fine. Just tired, I suppose."

"You should rest. We have a dinner planned tonight and your mother will throw a fit when you show up all distracted."

He was right, of course he was, and you didn't like the way he was talking about her. It was like he already made his mind up about his soon to be mother-in-law and the picture of her was pink and sweet. Just the opposite of what she truly was.

You feared she had König wrapped around her finger.

"Okay," you mustered a dismissive reply to his concerns, your head turning oh so slightly in the direction of the masked stranger and your breath hitched in the back of your throat when you caught him looking at you again, his eyes trained on you like you'd disappear if he blinked. The gaze he was offering you felt like he was appreciating you and you felt truly wanted for the first time in your entire life.

What a strange man.

The stranger below was staring off at the A-Deck, his brown eyes drinking your appearance in as you walked away with the large man from Simon's sight and he fought off a disappointed sigh that threatened to spill from his covered lips. You were enchanting like that, a gentle breeze fluttering the short sleeves of your dress with a peaceful expression on your pretty face as you appeared in his life. A sight indeed.

A Scottish man next to Simon waved his hand in front of his friend's face, his own sporting an expression full of cheekiness as he grinned. He wasn't dumb and he saw the way Simon was looking into the distance of the deck above, his eyes trained on one woman in particular. Simon has never acted like this, no matter how the women were attractive or how many drinks he had that night.

"Aye, mate, I think we're losing you there."

Simon Riley was simply down bad, as the Scottish man would say.

A nudge to Johnny's ribs caused for his teasing eyes to pull towards their another friend, Kyle Garrick or rather Gaz as he preferred to be called, as he shook his head in a manner to mock Simon's sudden interest. "You can forget about her right here, pal. She's clearly off limits, one way or another."

All three of them knew to what exactly was Gaz indicating. You were standing amongst rich people and the expensive dress you were wearing that shined in the sunlight with its brightness was of an enough proof. You didn't and wouldn't talk to people like them, whenever you decided on it yourself or because your high status didn't allow such action without having eyes turned on you. And then there was the person next to you, the huge mountain of a man who seemed to care about you with such delicacy Simon was almost pissed off. Of course you'd be taken.

"People like her aren't friendly with people like us."

Simon knew Gaz was right but his mind and heart still wanted to reach for you, to get to know the persona he suddenly became intrigued with.

"Whatever."

But his thoughts were filled with you to the brim, the image of your face imprinted behind his eyes like the finest painting ever painted. It was clear he wouldn't forget about you in some time. And maybe it was for the better.

You didn't know that simple indirect interaction would have a huge effect on your life, both his and yours.

TAGLIST ! @lols-wdym @taylor-clifford-65 @ananas26t @poohkie90 @razzles-boiler @kaysav608 @blvebanisters @sanzuandmikey @snowy-skyways

#simon riley x reader #simon riley x you #simon riley x y/n #simon ghost riley x you #simon ghost riley x reader #simon ghost riley #simon riley #simon ghost x you #simon ghost x reader #cod x y/n #cod x reader #cod x you #cod fanfic #cod fluff #cod smut #simon riley smut #ghost x you #ghost x reader #ghost x y/n #cod mw x reader #cod mwii #cod mw ghost #simon riley fluff #simon riley fanfic

[fountainpenguin]

Zombiewood, my beloved...

Man... thinking about how much I love Double Life Martyn & his interactions with Cleo again. There is... so much silliness going on there. Legit, they can barely hold a conversation without giggling. And the drama... Just existing together under the drama umbrella makes them fantastic story material. 10/10 soulmate pair.

Martyn's terrible game show flop. Devastating. Him getting in a fistfight with Cleo at the end of it. That little fast-paced vent he does while ranting to Jimmy about how Cleo is really into building bridges with Scott but not him, which pitches up into a scream. I love how 'into character' he gets there; it's so good...

The entire hilarity of Martyn building a giant heart in front of Cleo in an attempt to win her back, which she loathes and ignores while he spends the series fighting with the HOA for the right to keep it. Everyone constantly yells at him for dropping their property value. All he wants is Cleo's attention and Cleo just... is not impressed. so funny.

"It's small, but it's enough. Just like me." - Martyn, what??

The way Martyn builds his base "in Cleo's front yard." That's so nuts. From an in-universe perspective, I love that swivel from denial and anger in Episode 1 to bargaining in 2.

So many good tidbits throughout their 5-episode relationship... Martyn peeping at Cleo through his spyglass at night and muttering "She seems safe; she seems happy; she seems healthy" before zooming in all "Wait, she has to use the furnace OUTSIDE?? Take it inside! Look, he's ruining you!" Like... Okay, Martyn.

"This is all her fault, 100%!!" He's a needy, angry man grasping at straws. I love dumb roleplay drama. Ugh, the commitment to the bit is so glorious. What a great arc.

The way Martyn thoroughly convinces himself that Scott's the shoulder devil who swayed Cleo away from him, so he shows up to speak his mind ("We can be real, proper soulmates, but right now you're being really selfish. You let him speak in your ear! You let him tell you that I was off not caring about my soulmate! I was providing!" and Cleo hits him with "Martyn... I was the one who brought it up first."

Just... idk, the way he freezes right then is great. The "emotional damage" clip he plays right then just makes it for me. That right there is the moment that Character Martyn splinters. It's so good. And yet he doesn't give up?? astounding.

I really enjoy how Pearl took the divorce quartet situation and spun it into clingy 'crazy ex' roleplay with Scott, and Martyn went the complete opposite route and tried to woo Cleo over with grandiose gestures of affection, really playing up the "I'm a provider; I didn't want to show up emptyhanded" angle. They were so different in how they handled the break-up and I still think that's cool. They did such a good job. Fantastic season.

Martyn: I care about us! I bring the skill; you bring the vibes- That's what I was signing up for! Cleo: If you look at it this way- You don't have to watch out for me. I've got somebody else who's willing to lay down their life for me.

Like??

Martyn wants someone he can share affection with. Cleo wants stability and trust. The whole "This is better for both of us" is so good... Hilarious.

The part that really makes it for me is Martyn starting to protest "So this is what we're doing?" and Cleo softly shushes him, just like "Shhh... They're coming over."

They kick off a secret alliance they don't discuss in public... Cleo apologizing for misjudging him and extending a hand. Martyn playing the part of jealous lover who's got an open door waiting for him if he'll meet her halfway, which he can choose to do at any time if he swallows his pride... It's SO GOOD... What a set-up!

Martyn & Cleo, my beloveds... Where else can I find the goofy 'jealous ex with a flair for art and drama' + 'Annoyed ex who moved on with their life and got a new partner and a home' health-sharing soulmate combo with this much commitment to the anger and grief and forgiveness and regret... They're great.

Martyn: I don't know where I stand with her. She sort of seems to be looking out for me but absolutely wants nothing to do with me. It's all very confusing... and maybe Cleo will come back to me one day.

Well, I've got good news and bad news, boss...

Cleo giving Martyn a heart-to-heart and he quietly wanders back to his base, turns to look at them, and tells the audience "Maybe me and Cleo are more on the same page than I initially thought" while in Cleo's POV a moment later, she's like "Look, sometimes you just have to speak to him in a way he'll understand" [gameplay strats] ??? slkdjf

Cleo sending Martyn on his way with his first diamonds of the series to craft a sword with... the "Don't die" / "I promise; I'll do us proud- Don't you worry" / "[Sigh]... Do yourself proud" exchange just kills me. Martyn swivels to his softer 'serious roleplay voice' to 'pledge loyalty' to her and Cleo just Is Not Having It With Him and shuts that down so fast.

Cleo: You don't need to worry about me. I've got my partner. Martyn to the audience, so Cleo can hear: She's saying that even when there's nobody around. I am VERY confused."

Two dead, many injured.

Cleo tossing a flower in his inventory when he wasn't looking. Cleo offering to let Martyn stay with her after his base gets griefed. Also ??? Martyn and Cleo getting a house together when they were constantly fighting?? why did they do that.

Cleo and Scott on their bridge above the ravine, doing their daily axe crit to the chest... Martyn in Ep 3 whips around and yells "Do you two mind??" Cleo tells him it's their way of showing affection and Martyn immediately gets out his enchanted axe and goes for her. He looks Scott in the eye and says "At least I've got a heart" and Scott's instant reply is "Do you??"

Martyn later refusing to use the bridge because it would be "awkward"... Martyn sneaking around Cleo's house and getting upset that she joined the HOA, immediately followed by her chasing him out of her yard insisting that she didn't. Martyn's swap into bubbly music when he's in the panda reserve. "The admission fee is love!" / "Oh, I come with buckets of that because somebody isn't accepting mine."

On the way out the door, Scar tells Cleo and Martyn that he'll find more romantic music to play the next time they visit and Martyn doubles back and says "Yeah, if you could." Love that for him. All the man wants is a partner who doesn't want to kick him in the teeth. What a great episode.

I love how Martyn and Cleo interact on their weird stepping stone bridge above the ravine... He keeps pushing for "I'll take your gear and go down to the ancient city to get your enchantments sorted out," trying to kill two birds with one stone and play up that role of being "the provider," and Cleo just... keeps trying to reel him back.

"No, no, no! You don't even have to do that! All you have to do is say 'I'm sorry for abandoning you on the first day.'" / "Mmmmm... I don't understand." sldkfj. "All it takes is an apology, Martyn." / "You're not getting one. We both know you're not getting one."

Delicious self-inflicted drama. Cleo's so willing to bend and he's so dang stubborn. I love them...

Personal highlight for me is right after Martyn kills both Cleo and himself by punching them off a cliff. Scott puts himself between the two of them while Cleo seethes and Martyn apologizes profusely and he just keeps saying "You have ruined every chance of ever being with her as your soulmate. You have lost every opportunity." Cleo following it up with "Remember when I said Martyn would be a good person to have on our team?

Yeah, just drive that sense of "Nobody wants you" into the one guy who's been so desperately roleplaying affection... topped off by the fact that when they're alone, Cleo drops the loud angry voice and cracks up laughing. Your honor, they are literally just some guys.

The fact that Cleo had to save him from an enderman while he shrieked and buried under her bedroom floor. I cannot get over the mental image of "Take me back, babe" immediately followed by them almost dying twice in 5 minutes. Martyn literally runs inside and hides under Cleo's bed... they can't stop giggling. Yep. He's here: the perfect man.

DL!Martyn is so funny to me... He explicitly uses the phrase "I'm breaking up with you too" when he dumps Pearl at the end of Episode 1, and then he does it AGAIN when Ren says they should bring Pearl into the Broken Hearts club.

The whole "Uh... I broke up with Pearl, so this might take some convincing" bit just cracks me up. Ren so wanted this alliance to work and Martyn is like "... ah. Yeah, about that..."

Semi-related, but thinking about that one Reacts clip where IRL Martyn said "See, this is why me and Cleo are soulmates" while listening to them talk about his LimLife finale betrayal...

idk; that's funny to me- I like the in-universe image that character Martyn is still hung up on Cleo (and/or the mental image of character Martyn hanging out with her at a post-LimLife party, trying to study her and figure out why they were paired).

Martyn and Cleo are on the same page in so many ways... but they have different communication styles / preferences and they crashed and burnt so hard... Ah, the sweet tragedy of it all. I'd have loved to see how well they could've fared together as a team.

Cleo losing their Yellow life because Martyn scrambled towards her begging her to eat and she forgot she was drowning as she opened inventory to check her pockets... His "Leave her alone!" and "Cleo, we good? We good?" during the ancient city fight. Cleo inviting Martyn into her Red Life base. Yeah. Them... Messy to the end.

Anyway, they're hilarious. GG to them on the improv and the commitment to it, even though the break-up was probably a scary roleplay / gameplay choice...

Also that moment where Bdubs casually says hello to them while they're walking home from the panda reserve and they immediately go for their weapons and start threatening him "Your money or your life" is so perfect... Love me a couple improv troublemakers in total sync. They're my favorites.

I love them and their silly donkeys Glen and Schmoobles... Nothing like two soulmates both picking the same companion animal without coordinating and both giving them silly names in the complete opposite directions from each other. They're great.

I love them...

#Martyn InTheLittleWood #ZombieCleo #trafficblr #Double Life #Zombiewood #divorce quartet #traffic soulmates #mcyt #Bonus funny Martyn quote: Transport and property are like the two most important things. I guess family's in there somewhere as well #Also- Martyn: 'You can see the shadow of my heart on the water bed' / Etho: 'You have a water bed???' #traffic spoilers #traffic life smp #Long post #Riddle watches Traffic #director's cut

[ur-dad-satan]

I've recently become obsessed with the song Golden Hour by Jvke so here's how I think the OM bros would react to MC singing it to them.

This is the song btw so you can really get the vibe

That's just there incase you don't want to read it so you don't have to. They're all alone with MC in their parts but MC is singing this with their entire heart and changed all the she/her to he/him.

Luci

He would be skeptical as to why MC wanted to sing a song for him

He would still let then though

He would listen intently missing some of the references like Donald Glover

He would be incredibly impressed with MC's talents

His heart would skip a beat when MC calls him the love of their life

He wouldn't show how much the song is affecting him (in a good way ofc)

That is until "he's got glitter for skin, my radiant beam in the night"

Nah he's hooked. Can't stop singing until the song it over.

By the end of the song, he's holding back tears.

MC would kiss him all over his face and Luci wouldn't let them go

Mam

"Of course ya wanna sing The Great Mammon a song!!"

Mammon loves music anyway so he'll love that it's a song dedicated to him

He would almost choke at the "it was just two lovers, sitting in the car" part cause that's what they were doing

He too would listen to the lyrics intently and his face would become more and more red with every lyric

His heart would also skip a beat or two when MC called him the love of their life

MC would gently hold his face while singing "I don't need no light to see you shine" and he would melt

He's a puddle and would be for the rest of the song

By the end, tears are streaming down his face and his heart is going to explode

MC is never getting rid of him now

Mam would BRAG to everyone that HIS human wrote the most amazing song ever for him even though they didn't write it

He knows that, but he didn't care

He's now simping more than he ever has

Levi

Why does MC want to sing him a song? ARE THEY GONNA MAKE FUN OF HIM?! (obviously not)

He didn't know what to expect but appreciated the instrumental

He's immediately beet red after the "it was just two lovers" line

He's infatuated with the song the whole way through

MC would hold his hand or his face during "I don't need no light to see you shine" and he wouldn't feel like a burden for the first time in a while

He had stars in his eyes at the "a glorious look in his eye"

Levi is bawling at the end of the song and MC wipes his tears

They kiss his forehead and Levi realizes something:

He's fallen for the normie even harder

Sat

He would love to hear a song!! Especially after the day he's had (Luci yelled at him)

He would immediately love it from the instrumentals alone; he does appreciate orchestral music

He would attach to the line "fallin for each other". Was he that obvious?!

He tried his damnedest to hide how much this silly little song was thawing his "cOlD dEaD hEaRt"

He was taken aback by "my angel of light" especially since MC held his face while they sung it.

No one dared call him an angel because of his anger and never having been one. He always felt slightly left our from his brothers' memories

Hearing MC call him one... Made him emotional... He felt... Included?

He knew he had never been one, nor would he ever be one, but... It's the thought that counts

By the end, he was complementing their voice and hugging them tight trying to hide the tears as they flowed

This man would forever do everything in his power to love and protect you

Asmo

He loves music especially when it's sang for him.

He would listen intently and really take in the lyrics looking for complements

He especially gripped into the line "he's got glitter for skin, a radiant beam in the night".

His eyes were hearts from this moment on. Literally. His pupils became heart shaped.

He was completely infatuated with the human at this point and he was holding back how much he actually wanted to smile

The line "he knew he was the baddest, can you even imagine, fallin like I did" made him fold

He was smiling ear to ear.

The small touches to his hands, arms, and face were enough to make Asmo fall in love more than he ever did

Beel

He would love to hear a song, MC!!

He doesn't really care that much about music, but he likes to hear MC's voice.

He would grip onto "I was all alone with the love of my life"

He's the love of their life??!

He didn't know MC felt that strongly about him.

Though his face didn't show it much, he was bursting with excitement.

MC would touch his face during "can you even imagine fallin' like I did?" and he would absentmindedly nod

By the time the song was over, Beel would realize just how much he actually loved MC

When they were done singing, Beel would hug them into his chest tightly careful not to hurt them

Belphie

He wouldn't mind hearing MC sing while he fell asleep.

They would play the music quietly and let Belphie rest his head on their lap.

He would start paying attention to the lyrics after "fallin' for each other" but keep his eyes closed.

MC would play with his hair and gently touch his face while they sang.

What Belphie wasn't expecting was "My radiant beam in the night"

That made him look up and carefully watch MC keep singing.

Towards the end of the song, he realized how contented and happy he was to have them,

When MC finished, he held their hand and raised it to his lips planting a lingering kiss on the skin.

He'd never give up MC no matter what.

I adore this song and thought of this last week but finished it now. I may do an undatables version if this gets like 30 notes. Also, I don't think I'll include Luke in this one because it does say things like "love of my life" and "we were just two lovers" and that's not what we want for Luke at all.

<3

#Youtube #obey me! #obey me brothers #obey me scenarios #obey me incorrect quotes #obey me shitpost #obey me lucifer #obey me luci #obey me mammon #obey me mam #obey me leviathan #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me asmo #obey me beelzebub #obey me beel #obey me belphegor #obey me belphie #golden hour #jvke #song

[tangledbea]

Why does everybody hate Cassandra’s arc in season 3?

Well, not literally everyone hates it. Lots of people think it's really good. I don't like to generalize and say that "everyone" feels a certain way about anything.

But what a lot of people don't like comes from a few different directions, often coming together in the center into a hot mess. I'll do my best to recall all the biggest complaints. (Under a readmore, because it's kind of long and I don't want to subject people to it if they don't want to see it.)

It's incredibly out of character for her to blindly trust a stranger who won't reveal their name to her. She mentions several times during the course of the series that she doesn't trust people (especially people she's only just met), but Zhan Tiri wouldn't even tell her who she was, and Cassandra just decided that what this strange ghost child in a weird and dangerous house had to say was more important that a friendship built over the course of a few years, even if that friendship was currently strained.

Her rancor was poorly sourced. There were legitimately several things Cassandra could have been mad about, even directed at Rapunzel. But being mad at Rapunzel for Gothel choosing to kidnap her and abandon Cassandra was an unsympathetic way to go. She sang a whole song about not wanting to be second best anymore, about always waiting for her time to shine. But that entire story beat was thrown out the window in the face of "I am Gothel's biological daughter". She had one (1) glorious line of, "I'm not taking orders from you anymore!" and then all of that was put to rest in favor of, "My mom abandoned me, so I'm going to blame the abuse victim that she kidnapped."

She kept talking about her destiny, but didn't seem to have any goals beyond "be first over Rapunzel." She never even said what it was her "destiny" to do or be. She wanted to take over Corona? And then what? It's not like this was some long-standing desire of hers. Which leads me to

Cassandra spend the majority of her life defining herself as strong-willed, distrustful, and thinking for herself. But they decided that Zhan Tiri could get into her head as easy as that and start full-on manipulating her from the word "go," and that we'd all just handwave it away and accept that Cassandra was doing villainous things because she was being manipulated. Well, nay, I say. Cassandra was an adult with her own mind, and manipulation isn't as instantaneous as that. They didn't even try to portray it like they did with Rapunzel and Sugracha as complete magical mind control. No, it was Cassandra being given choices and choosing the things that would benefit her and/or hurt other people over and over and over again. But we're supposed to be sympathetic towards her.

She assaulted and kidnapped people, attempting to kill Rapunzel or at very least leave her for dead multiple times, then was surprised to find out she was the villain. And honestly, that surprise does a lot to make me dislike her villain arc. I love me a villain who thrives off their villainy, who revels in it, like she did at the beginning of "Cassandra's Revenge." And even villains like that can be redeemed. But people who choose violence and revenge and hate and are then surprised that they're the villain don't impress me.

Her redemption was rushed, crammed into the last twenty minutes of the series - her realization and apology was literally given about a minute of time - and she only realized she was wrong when she lost. Up until the moment Zhan Tiri wrestled the Moonstone away from her, Cassandra was convinced that she was going to win the day. As soon as she was powerless, she was sorry. And then, she was forgiven by everyone because she was forgiven by Rapunzel.

And things that don't go on the list because enough people disagree with them, or because they don't exactly line up with "why we dislike her villain arc" but are still things that bug me, personally:

That Gothel was her mother at all. I hate that plot point. It's stupid, lazy, and makes no sense.

That her arm getting burned and disfigured was just... dropped as a plot point. We don't know if having the Moonstone was supposed to heal it, or if she'd sufficiently rehabilitated it on the road enough for it not really to bother her anymore, but the showrunner literally said that they decided it wasn't important anymore, so dropped it.

#Tangled #Tangled the Series #Cassandra #TTS #Answered

[mylittleredgirl]

favorite and least favorite parts of each trek, with absolutely no thought put into it before making this list:

🚀 classic trek favorite: the ~aesthetic~. fuckin LOVE big chunky plastic buttons and beepy things, the mini-skirts, the sparkly metallic fabric, the whole deal. least favorite: janice rand leaves forever :( :( every single appearance she had was BONKERS how am i supposed to experience that and then ever hope to fill that void 🪐 tng favorite: soooooo soothing to know that our guys will always be both kind and correct and at the end of the episode i will learn something about how to be a better person. also romulans are there. least favorite: shit fuck i shouldn't have started this post because i'm already drawing a blank. ok ok i hate that the ship's counselor role got nerfed into a "therapist on the bridge" when it's actually so so important!! that needed to be explored so explicitly that dudebros on the internet have to shut up about it forever ⚾️ deep space nine favorite: THE CHARACTERS MY FRIENDS. the cast of dozens where every single character right down to the randos on the promenade are great. headed up by benjamin lafayette sisko and kira nerys, truly characters of all time least favorite: dukat's insanity/pah-wraith arc. like i do get why this narrative parallel makes sense against sisko as the prophets' emissary but also, it's bad. 🥔 voyager (that's a leola root by the way) favorite: i LOVE the early seasons where everyone is so adorable and spunky and they're just tooling around the delta quadrant being terrible at making friends. also tuvok is there. least favorite: kes leaves forever :( :( i hear you out there saying "fury" but come here. look at me. look at me. kes leaves forever. 🛰 enterprise favorite: controversial actually but i love t'pol's arc. i DID NOT love it as it was airing because watching poor jolene blalock having to act her way through ever more demeaning episodes is painful and terrible, but t'pol is magnificent actually? the fish out of water vulcan finding herself in foreign waters?? self-destruction on the way to rediscovering her own personal relationship to logic??? imagine if we'd got three more seasons of her with manny coto in charge it would've been glorious. least favorite: can we PLEASE do something with hoshi and travis i am BEGGING. also physically painful what american jingoism did to captain archer but i might have emotionally coped with it better if travis got lines. 🍄 discovery favorite: michael burnham is the light of my life she makes me cry out emotions that have been buried since i was in utero i don't even know. also the changing opening sequence my beloved least favorite: need one of those serial killer string boards to figure out what's going on sometimes??? can't say that too loudly tho because the discovery haters can smell blood in the water 💃 short treks favorite: THE CONCEPT I LOVE THIS least favorite: more??????? :( 🥷 star trek picard favorite: seven of nine in comfy sweaters kissing a girl filled holes in my life i didn't know were there!!!?!?!?? least favorite: don't like when picard is a jerk :( don't like when no soji and elnor :( :( :( 🤪 lower decks favorite: every second is a relentless outpouring of love for star trek, it's like a sleepover where all your friends are sitting around talking about how much they love tng except your friends are 900% funnier. least favorite: i have a hard time with cartoon violence sometimes so i get TENSE and also badgey haunts my nightmares for real for real 👨‍🍳 strange new worlds - actually i have only seen the first episode despite posting about it as if i have seen all of it haha my bad SO favorite: new star trek to watch!!!!! least favorite: now everyone knows i haven't watched it yet and i am losing trekkie credibility babes 😬 👩‍👧‍👦 prodigy favorite: rok-tak my DAUGHTER least favorite: that feeling of being in a warner brothers cartoon and there's an anvil above all our heads with J/C DISCOURSE painted on it just waiting for the show to make a wrong move

i swear i must have forgotten at least one series there is so much star trek now??? anyway feel free to make your own post about this, i am curious!! if you absolutely MUST i suppose it's ok to think about your answers for more than 30 seconds.

#this is the ask i was like maybe someone will send me this :) :) #so i have an excuse to rattle it off without thinking #and then i went oh right this is the post without thinking website i can do this myself #star trek #WAIT WAIT CAN I GO BACK AND ADD THE LIL DISCOVERY ROBOTS

[rayshippouuchiha]

Ray, light of my days, I have a VERY funny (🎶I am in miserrry🎶) story to tell you, but while it's not actually anything explicit it's kind of NSFW on principle, so buckle up hun

So the thing is that my brother and his friends make... interesting sounds while they're gaming and I have threatened all of them both together and individually that if they don't quiet the fuck down I'll record everytime I can and put them up on PrnHub. I'm friends with either older sisters or mothers in his friend group so it wasn't just me talking out of my ass. And of course they just got louder and more authentic. What did I expect?

I actually started a channel for them last month that I won't name and kind of halfway forgot about it because the whole thing just became kinda normal.

- these idiots do hentai sounds for fun while murdering a village full of innocents or something in some game

- I record it

- I put it on the channel

The thing is that my brother found it today and since I wasn't actually checking in on the whole thing I didn't know that they got... popular.

So now I'll have to live with the knowledge that I accidentally started a prn/voice acting career for my brother and his friend group for the rest of my miserable life. All because I wanted them to stop moaning into their fucking speakers because it annoys me.

this is absolutely glorious

#RayRambles

[celestialholz]

The Anatomy of an Outfit (aka 'holy fucking Continuum THE LOOK™)

Y'all know I haven't seen a single STP episode since 2.9. I would rather gargle with acid than go near this show ever again frankly, but, well...

... Good sweet sanctuary what the fucking hell is THIS. :O (@tennant, clearly a fellow appreciator of all things ancient god, must be thanked profusely for these glorious few shots I'm about to show off. <3)

I called this lovely, lovely man returning about ten minutes after he 'died', but I don't think any of us were expecting his outfit to slay THIS HARD when he did. And not only is it the sexiest thing my fortunate eyes have ever had the pleasure to absorb, but it also happens to be very, er... well let's be real here, it's ridiculously Qcard-coded.

Let's break it down, shall we?

We'll start with the obvious: it's maroon and black. This look appears to be a mad fusion of his Encounter at Farpoint judge robes (which is fair, we end as we begin), and his husband of forty years' captain's uniform. That piped shoulder's hugely reminding me of this, in fact:

It's the inverse! You know, the same look, flipped? Because they have perfectly distinct personalities but are also mega gay???? Costume department allies fr.

The delightfully dramatic sash Q's rocking is also interesting - it places maroon at the centre of the outfit, and is its grandest statement, which makes it an excellent example of the importance of the colour to its wearer. This is the clothing equivalent of him having mon capitaine tattooed across his essence, which... well yeah, valid. Canonical facts. It's worn across virtually his whole chest, too, because nothing says 'that's my husband' more than having him literally held against your heart.

It's a different era of captain, across two shoulders - the old teasing, and the new love.

Also, this fucking brooch.

Now, whilst I doubt they've given even John de Lancie a piece made of actual rubies for a fifteen-second scene, the stones here are very clearly meant to evoke them. And rubies are interesting for several reasons:

They're Picard's birthstone, his birthday being July 13th;

They're symbolic of power and protection. What follows is some of the interesting info I've picked up from internet gemology on rubies:

... Huh. Resolve disputes. 'Dispel anger,' when we've seen a darker Q in this series. And 'protective powers'... mm, how many times has Q saved Picard's life again? What did we get up to, six?

... 'Romantic love.' 'Devotion.' Uh-huh.

This brooch is also evocative of the Navaratna, or this thing:

The brooch itself is clearly stylised, but it features eight gems orbiting a central larger ruby (which is meant to be the sun by the way, as though this motherfucker wasn't already evocative ENOUGH of the sun here or here), and is an important cultural and religious symbol in Hinduism. What's it symbolic of, exactly?

... Oh, nothing much. Just... just this.

... Like I said, nothing much, just the whole concept of Qcard in fucking jewellery form.

The brooch's also, as the wife @porgthespacepenguin pointed out, an eight-pointed star.

... Have I mentioned yet that I fucking detest this show? Because I really fucking detest this show.

There's nine rubies on it, as well. Picard's in his nineties.

So, let's recap:

Nine of Picard's birthstone for his ninety years

Sun symbolism, AGAIN

Celestial relationships

Beyond space and time

Romance

Prosperity

Protection

Resolution

So, all that, from a brooch worn over an outfit that looks suspiciously like Picard's, which has a sash across it in Picard's colour.

... And I'm supposed to believe that Qcard isn't endgame? You're really going to gaslight me to this degree right in front of my salad, you absolute bastards????

Guys, when you inevitably wipe this shitshow of a Star Trek from your collective minds like I'm about to do, just... take this with you. Take the fact that everything about this outfit and this SHOW has said all along that Qcard is endgame, until they couldn't be arsed. Until they lost their balls for the pathetic few who might have naysayed it.

Patrick, and certainly John, deserved so much better. I'm glad that at least someone on this set understands that. (I see you, costumers. I see you, and I love you.)

Just going to... just going to stare at the absolute fine-aged wine of a man that is John de Lancie for a moment, before I lose my whole shit. He calms my soul, you see.

HIT THE SLAY KING JOHN <3

#qcard #q of the continuum #jean luc picard #just gonna throw in here again that I DETEST THIS SHOW WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING thank you for listening #can't believe love won guys even if no one actually bothered to tell us #they're married now and everything #star trek picard spoilers #stp #meta

[theposhperyton]

if you have the time could you tell me literally everything you know about isfd?

I found your blog through the one piece posts and now need to learn anything I can about this obscure fandom

An ISFD ask from someone who isn't already lost in the sauce? (<-Self call-out) O glorious day!

Gosh, there's so much, I don't really know where to start. I've been following this micro-fandom for YEARS now, and it's one of those things that just keeps on giving. The amount of lost/missing content and the frickin nuked forum (I'm a survivor, baebee!!) really does sometimes make it feel like the universe is trying to wipe us out, but hey. ISFD fans are basically cockroaches. Killable in theory, but surprisingly hearty in an actual life or death of a fandom scenario.

As for the actual content of ISFD that I engage in, I'm a rare(?) case where I kinda dabble in everything. I can confidently say I'm a member of the ** original ** gen of fans, so I've been around for the noteable eras, and have obsessed over every major character group at one time or another, as well as some niche characters (Cyan and his 2 other fans, rise up 🔥🔥)

I gotta say though, I am currently obsessed with the mafia portion of the universe (and, tbh, by extension, the Marama family. They are to me what the Kardashians are to some)

In particular, Phillip Varic has been my consistent blorbo since last September. It is not an exaggeration to say I've averaged about 40 drawings of him a month since then (my friends and I have counted. I should be on my strange addiction at this point, tbh. Or seeking other professional insight)

Here's some of the doodles in question! I am not terribly good at finishing art of him, I just sketch him loosely and rotate him rapidly in my head

I just think he's so neat. And I think his stupid, codependant, and mildly dysfunctional mafia found-family are so neat. And I think his husband (seraphine) and wife (abram) are so neat. And all his kids, both the legal kids and the ones whom he mostly just pays college tuition for, they're neat to. And the echos of Magnolia throughout his life and the larger narrative, even decades later. That's also very neat (my heart doesn't hurt at all!)

I realize I kinda derailed from answering your original ask because the mafia brainrot is debilitating and chronic, but I'm not entirely sure how I'd go about answering it anyway because there is just. So, so much world and lore to glean from ISFD, and none of it in any easy or direct way. Honestly though? The mafia might not be a bad place to start? If you want, I can tell you as much as I know about the cast and dynamics of the mafia, because I feel like a lot of the mafia character's lore and backgrounds act as a good segway to other noteable aspects of the larger ISFD narratives and the in-world political climate as a whole (Especially Mask and Howard. Not to single those poor souls out, but genuinely. How are they both gonna be so afflicted by the narrative like that)

If you're still interested after I practically talked your ear off, I could totally make a larger post about the whole mafia :3 They're my special blorbos ❤️ I would not feel safe around them IRL, but trapped within the confines of fiction, they're all free for me to babygirlify with almost no consequences

#gosh im so so so normal about the mafia #isfd phillip #phillip varic #phillurp #isfd seraphine #seraphine avent #isfd mask #abram marama #isfd adrian #isfd howard #isfd viola #isfd wisteria #isfd sophia #isfd exorcist #isfd fennec #isfd mira #isfd oliver #isfd kepri #kepri valmont #isfd maramas #isfd mafia #isfd polymurdery #polymurdery #isfd #maficule

[himboskywalker]

Thank you so much for these many recommendations, i will definitely read some of them. I finally ordered lord of the rings, always wanted to do it but I finally did it.

I would love a separate rec list of less new books and overall classics. If you have the time of course. I always have a hard time finding new books for myself or to gift to other people.

Sure! And I'm ecstatic to hear you bought lotr! Another one to be welcomed into my fold! This list is decidedly less organized, but here's a list of more classic/ older works I always recommend or gift to people.

Anything written by our beloved Neil Gaiman. He's most well known, especially in this sphere, for "Good Omens" cowritten by Terry Pratchett, and rightfully so. If you've never read anything by either author, it is absolutely worth the hype, and even if you've watched the tv show, it is so incredibly funny and wonderful. "American Gods" is also phenomenal and very well known from its tv show now, but my personal favorite of Gaiman's is "Anansi Boys." No one does urban fantasy like him, and his works will always be the gold standard for me for this genre.

The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. There's 41 books in the series so it's a mighty undertaking, I myself haven't gotten through all of them yet, I think I have about ten books left. They are so wonderfully funny and philosophical and witty. I don't recommend reading the books in the order Pratchett wrote them, rather there are collections in the series you'll want to read in order. The Death collection and City Watch books are my favorites but there are many more than that you may like better.

"The Princess Bride" by William Goldman. This is one of my favorite books of all time and while the movie certainly gets the vibe, it's a whole different animal. It's just so incredibly funny and fun and smartly written, and I've given it to many family and friends for Christmas and birthday presents.

"The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch. This is commonly regarded as a fantasy genre must and I often vehemently disagree with what's considered a "classic" but I have to side with the powers that be in the lit community on this one. It's just damn well written and character driven in the exact kind of way I love in stories. If you start reading it and think "oh look morally gray thief characters doing a heist" just remember, Lynch published it in '06 and pretty much wrote the template for everyone who has copied him since.

Anything by Ursula Le Guin although I read the "Earthsea" series first and would recommend starting there as well. She just really is that bitch, it doesn't get better written or more observant of life than her. Outside of Tolkien I don't know if there's anyone I admire more as an author than Le Guin. Her prose are not only stunningly gorgeous, but line after line after line hits like a sucker punch to the side of the head for how she makes you see life and yourself in new ways. “Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, only in dying life: bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky.”

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques! I love them so dearly, they're fun and beautifully written and full of adventuring that only forest animals with swords are capable of. I do recommend reading them in order, or at least the original "Redwall" before you dive into the rest of the series, but "Taggerung" is my favorite.

This is a more divisive rec nowadays but Kurt Vonnegut. If you read "Slaughterhouse Five" in school and hated it I don't blame you, it's not my favorite of his and not what I urge people to look to if they want to fall in love with him like I did when I was a teenager. My favorite Vonnegut is "Sirens of Titan" and "Breakfast of Champions." Do look at content warnings for "Sirens of Titan" and I've seen a lot of vitriolic reviews of the book in recent years by younger readers, but I absolutely think it's worth the read and the shining glorious example of what I mean when I say protagonists aren't meant to be liked or morally right.

And speaking of squicky divisive recs! May I tell you about our lord and savior of "oh god I don't know if I can get through this" Margaret Atwood? Most people know her for "Handmaid's Tale" but I first read "Oryx and Crake." Seriously, read the content warnings, but Atwood is known for writing the best of speculative sci-fi for a reason.

Anything by Octavia Butler. My intro to her was through "Bloodchild" which I highly recommend, and I think is the perfect introduction to her brand of unnerving brilliance. She is most well known for "Kindred" and rightfully so.

"Perfume" The Story of a Murderer" by Patrick Suskind. It's weird, by god it's weird, and it's one of my absolute favorite "classic lit" novels. In 18th century France a weird little freak of a guy with a super sense of smell winds up murdering a bunch of people to make perfume. It's fantastic and the quintessential, I will not morally justify this, but boy am I enjoying reading about this little creep.

"Trainspotting" by Irvine Welsh. I also love "Filth" and "Porno" by him. I think Welsh is brilliant at characterization, especially when most of his characters are morally bankrupt and terrible. But what he does best is make you feel for these characters who have often put themselves in these terrible positions. They're just people, and life is shitty, and I don't think anyone writes that better than Welsh.

"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. O'Brien made a career of writing fictionalized recounts of his time in Vietnam. I love everything he's written, he is one of my favorite modern lit authors, but "The Things They Carried" is his best known work and what I first read of his. It's brilliant and beautiful and sad, and it was the first time I ever had to put a book down and read in chunks because it affected me so emotionally.

Cormac McCarthy, any and everything he has ever written. He's best known for "The Road" of course, and it's certainly worth the read but "Blood Meridian" is my absolute favorite of his. His stuff is brutal and wry and full of the dry irony that only the bleakness of reality offers, and by god is it well written.

And finally I'll leave you with a single nonfiction recommendation. I try to keep those minimal when I know that's not usually what people are looking for when they ask for reading recs. But since I'm giving a list of books I have often gifted, I can't NOT include this one. "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl. I read this at 18 and it had a profound impact on how I think and view life. Any time someone I love has gone through a difficult time I've bought them their own copy.“For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth - that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.”

#reading list #book recs #reading recommendations #anons

[loquaciousquark]

hi! i’ve been a fan of your writing since da2 and i’m so glad you’re playing bg3 now too. it’s been really interesting following your play throughs and character choices and how that ties in with your fic. i know you went with the choice to have astarion kill tav when he firsts bites her because it’s hilarious and i always want to do that, but i think i’d miss the scene after with the whole camp (and all the approval for defending him lol) and ahhhh i just don’t know! if you feel like it, i was wondering if you would talk more about your HCs around that choice and what to you makes it worth losing the morning after scene with everyone because i feel like it’s such an important group moment but… i want to punch him for killing me and also kind of slow things down with him so we stay just reluctant but oddly compelled allies for longer

Ahhh, what a fabulous question! Thank you so very much for this handcrafted opportunity to sit you down at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee and trap you for the next three and a half hours.

So the first bite scene ending in Tav's death wasn't actually intentional! I started playing BG3 in a three-person MP team with @eponymous-rose and @mystery-moose, and it so happened that my character (Tavish Gale, already ironclad) was the one who came across the boar and triggered the bite scene that night. By pure chance I rolled two natural ones on both those checks, and when it cut to the next morning and Tav was outright DEAD, we couldn't stop laughing! We had no idea what to expect or what the consequences would be, and when I switched to a SP campaign so I could horrifically binge this game like the gremlin I am, I felt compelled to recreate that glorious, character-defining moment.

However, as you note, that does mean you miss out on that lovely post-feed conversation where everyone says they're okay with him. On the other hand, you get that absolutely flat read of "Oh no. Something terrible happened here. :|" and then you get to punch him, so, you know, basically equal losses on either path. I know you get a ton of approval points after with the survival track, but I'm finding I'm not hurting for approval even in early game (I actually had to go and mod his approval 15 points lower about halfway through Act 1 this run because I was triggering his romance scene too early ahead of the party).

I actually need to probably sit down and write out the details of what happens here, but I do think a couple things take place. I know for sure that Tav fails the checks & doesn't fight it because she gets sucked into the feeling of relaxation and lethargy and the sense that nothing matters anymore. She spends most of Acts 1 & 2 fairly certain they're going to die any day, so why not live life to the fullest and do whatever you want in the moment without thinking about the consequences? If she's going to go out early anyway, why not to a relatively painless vampire bite instead of the agony of ceremorphosis? She probably realizes she's dying in those last seconds, but it's very much a "finally" instead of "oh no," so it's not really any skin off her nose.

I'm almost certain Astarion is shocked out of his mind when her heart stops. I don't think he realizes what's happened until he sits back and she's ice-cold and smiling, and his first instinct is to run off into the dark ASAP before everyone else wakes up and shanks him. Except because this happens IN THE MIDDLE OF CAMP, LARIAN, I think someone sees the whole thing go down and realizes Astarion didn't mean to do it and Tav was a brick-thick idiot who leaned all the way into her own death.

On pondering, I kind of think it was Shadowheart, who is utterly disgusted with both of them but who also knows she can bring Tav back with a scroll and does so without much drama. She'd be the kind of person to see what was going on, but who doesn't care enough to intervene or go "hey everything okay over here I can't help but notice you're engaging in some risky behavior", but who also wouldn't leap to TIME TO KILL ASTARION the moment it went too far.

I think Tav wakes up with a raging headache, and now that there are suddenly consequences she can't immediately brush off, she gets embarrassed and mad. Cue the punch, the argument, and probably everyone else waking up in the aftermath. Lae'zel initially wants to boot him from the group, I think, but Tav's anger burns out pretty quick (and she's pretty aware of her own failures to stop him), and she points out that if they're going to saddle themselves with Wyll's, Gale's, and her own baggage, it'd be pretty hypocritical to dump Astarion over his. So we still get some defense of him to the group, and I think Karlach (and probably Wyll, and honestly maybe Shadowheart who saw his fear) would be onboard with keeping him around pretty quickly. Promises never to do it again, keep your teeth to yourself, etc.

Astarion I think spends this entire conversation very, very scared and doing everything he can to hide it. I think he's completely overwhelmed by euphorically feeding on a thinking creature for the first time and then completely horrified by killing her - not because he likes her but because what if this is why Cazador commanded us not to, what if I can't control myself on my own without his compulsion, what if I really am the beast he's always said. He's panicking from the outrageous swings of emotion and talking really quickly and trying to put up a bold front, but inside he's about half a hair from snapping off into the woods and never coming back.

I think it's the punch that kind of shocks him out of the spiral, and then Tav then defending him to the group helps him flip into the "well obviously I deserve to stay and in fact to kick me out of the group would be not only stupid, but deadly" mode long enough to get through the night. He tries to put on the usual devil-may-care indifference, even though everyone can see through it, and they have a tense few days where everyone's pretending everything is fine even though it's really, really not.

Astarion & Tav are also avoiding each other religiously here, until something happens in a battle (the harpies, I think) and one of them gets injured because of that avoidance. That night, Tav stakes him to the ground and makes them talk about it. I think this is where she says she's not actually averse to him feeding on her and in fact asks him to do it that night - to get them both over the hump of what happened the first time. Astarion needs to feed without fear & she needs to not get swept up in the lethargy, and if he's going to get back to the sneering equilibrium he ought to have in the first and second acts, he needs to be successful at this and he needs to feel like he's won, or at least like he has an edge over her again. She's a little transparent about wanting to be bled in part to help him get back to this position of control, and in part because she does like forgetting the weight of reality, and in part because, again, they're gonna die in like twelve hours, surely, so who cares?

Anyway, it goes as well as it can for the two of them, even if they're both a little prickly throughout, and by the end they're a lot more comfortably back in that manipulative space they prefer. From there it moves on compliantly with canon into the party leadup (Loviatar and such) and then the party itself, and then progresses as scheduled with the rest of the game.

Ahh, it's so fun to think about these kinds of things. I'll continue to ponder, but I think this is either it for them or very close. Thank you so much for asking and for letting me ruminate! <3

#quark replies #Anonymous #astarion #tav #tavstarion #baldur's gate 3 #tavish gale #quark plays bg3

[saltygilmores]

THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING GILMORE GIRLS: APPLICATION ANXIETY (SEASON 3, EPISODE 3, PART 3)

Luke marches next door to confront Taylor about his malt shop scheme. I love Luke giving Taylor a good smack down. This episode is so chock full of verbal smack downs, I'm positively giddy.

He's not wrong you know. I fully believe there is a dark side to The Hollow. I wish to one day explore it in my unrated spinoff chock full of swearing and gritty realism and Naked Adult Jess titled...The Hollow.

How creepy is it that Taylor has surveillance cameras all over town? Also, I think I can be forgiven for wrongly assuming Taylor was going to show Luke a picture of Jess. He's chosen to use a couple of skateboarders as an example of moral decay in Stars Hollow when Jess and Shane were macking it against a tree in front of hundreds of people in broad daylight at a festival HE was overseeing. That's funny. I’m glad Taylor decided to leave Jess alone and turn a blind eye to the furious public groping. I'm thinking since Jess could use a couple of friends he should introduce himself to these skateboarders. I think he would fit in nicely. "You want to open up a soda shop next to the diner? Taylor, no, no, no. Every day from now until the end of my life, I am going to come in here saying "Taylor, no." When I die, I'm gonna be frozen next to Ted Williams, and when they find the cure to what I died of and unfreeze me, my first words will be "How's Ted?" followed closely by, "Taylor, no." Another glorious Nuclear Rant! Hey, I actually understood that Ted Williams reference! Umm. Let me have this article unpack it because this post is going to go wildly off script if I attempt to do it myself. Ted Williams' decapitated head was cryonically preserved in a Frankenstein-like plan to resurrect him in the future

Here's what Lorelai is reading (the magazine is dated August 23-30, 2002).

Lorelai informs Rory that she met with Charleston and he suggested Rory meet with a Harvard graduate for an alumni dinner...Aw crud, I remember that. That whole thing where Rory goes to a very awkward dinner with a bunch of intellectual dorks then she goes upstairs to find some girl putting on a bunny costume, and then the bunny gives her life advice about being yourself and not following the crowd or something.

Hey Dave.

Stop it AmyShermanPalladino. Just stop it. *grumbles and googles* Danny Davies Gans (October 25, 1956 – May 1, 2009) was an American singer, comedian and vocal impressionist. Gans was a performer on the Las Vegas Strip and the surrounding area, where he was billed as "The Man of Many Voices."  This was in reference to Lorelai impersonating Rory's voice on the phone.

And now, time for the alumni dinner.

She has a digital organizer. That's how we're supposed to know she's really rich.

Lorelai makes a joke about how she thinks the brother and sister in the family are having sex with each other. Welp. At dinner with the Harvard Dorks, Rory and Lorelai exchange looks when the father implores his supposedly incestuous children not to "Fight over the breast." What is happening? Mom and Dad won't talk about Carol (the bunny). The dad is kinda Richard-Esque. The next several minutes is just an excrutiangly long game of Harvard Dork Family Playing Trivia at the dinner table and would you look at that, Lorelai feels like a fish out of the water for not understanding anything they're referencing. HA, HA! NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS!

Look at all the kooky crap on the walls. It looks like a TGI Friday's. And she's dressed as a 50's car hop. We already know this girl (Carol) is going to be so quirky. Rory thinks this chick is pretty keen and appreciates her taste in music. Spoiler alert: Rory does not make a new friend. Bunny Carol is Fun and Cute and Quirky and Not Like Other Girls and she intends to make it known that Rory is nothing more than a Harvard Sheep. Baaaa.

If only Rory could be a bunny/waitress like Carol and not stuck on The conveyor belt of Expectations, then she'd truly be happy. Well, who knows, since the journalism degree obviously didn't pan out, maybe at one point she did. There's a big hole in the Gilmore Girls timeline between 2007-2016. LOL @ Rory waiting tables or entertaining children for a living. Even April waited tables at Luke’s and she was like, 12 or something. I don’t remember. Anyway I made myself laugh just now. Rory: I've dreamt of Harvard since I was 4. Bunny Carol: LOL, a lot of little kids dream about that, right after meeting Harry Potter. This bunny is downright vicious.

Getting screen shots of that giant pencil to make jokes about how Rory is always holding oversized props that are vaguely penis-like is the only reason I ever venture into season 7.

I swear there was a fourth penis prop because I referenced that pencil not long ago and can’t find it now.

Take that, Crusty!

Sure, Lorelai is easy to please. Unless you date someone she doesn’t like, or you talk to your grandparents, or you invite your grandparents to a thing, or you take the advice of your grandparents, or you conspire with your grandparents to help your mother financially, or you consider a college that your grandparents suggest, or you consider other colleges besides the best ones, or your quarter on a string goes missing, or your friend gets you into a car accident, or you break up with Dean and suddenly there’s no one around to pleasure her sexually anymore… Otherwise Lorelai is super chill.

Things googled while watching gilmore girls: Ted Williams, Entertainment Weekly Gangs of New York, Danny Gans, How Much Did A PalmPilot Cost, Could A Palm Pilot Make Calls, Inflation Calculator (to calculate the price of a Palm Pilot in today's money, which could be between $400-$700)

#gilmore girls #denise rewatches gilmore girls #gilmore girls season 3 #application anxiety #rory gilmore #lorelai gilmore #luke danes #taylor doose #Luke Vs Taylor Verbal Smackdown

[thelikesoffinn]

hi! Just found your blog, and your analysis of Astarion is so interesting and in depth, Iove it! I'm debating whether writing a story with a human monk Tav because I think that can be a fun play on opposites attract, where she's solemn and stoic, but weirdly funny and and ready to help those in trouble, so he warms to her slowly because where was she etc. now in my playthrough he got mind controlled by Nere, and attacked Tav. I can't put down how he would feel? My opinion is that he'd try to distance himself (approval was quite high by then) because he's reminded of cazador 's control and that he's more monster than man. Also, would it be realistic for him not to want tav to go to cazador because he's ashamed/afraid for her life at this point? Or is it too early in his healing for him to think like that? Sorry, long one, thank you!

Well hello there! Thank you so much, duck, I'm so so happy you enjoyed all my rambling! Really honestly, you chaps all have no idea how happy your enjoyment makes me ♥

First: Human Monk Tav x Astarion will definitely be glorious and I hope the muses bless your creative process! We all love a good slow burn opposite attracts romance, that's the good stuff. (And I'm so hyped someone else sees the humour in stoicism. That shit is genuinely funny and not enough people appreciate it, I'm calling it.)

Then, regarding the mind-control issue: Pew! That's really a pickle, because I think it definitely toes the line between what Astarion would want to do and what he is actually able to do.

Generally, I'd say Astarion is one to shy away from dealing with his problems head on - especially the problems he's caused himself because guilt is something our boy absolutely can't face. So I absolutely do believe there's some part of him that just wants to up and dust.

I don't think, however, that distancing himself is something Astarion would ever actually do for a multitude of reasons, really.

First off, and possibly most importantly: The nere-battle is still rather early in the story. That means Astarion is still very likely in survival mode, which means he is painfully aware of every dangerous thing around him.

So that means, he is acutely aware that he needs Tav and their group to survive which, in turn, means he needs Tav right there by his side because they're the only thing that stands between him and the rest of the group. He can be somewhat safe as long as Tav is there vouching for him, so he can't let anyone get in between them.

In order to achieve that, he has to stick close to Tav. Distance creates an opening that someone else could take and the minute someone else slides in, Astarion "knows" (i.e. believes) he's done for. So distancing himself is more dangerous than staying close to Tav, who may currently be miffed because he's attacked them.

Furthermore, Astarion is a master of minimsation. (Only where he is concearned, of course, he's all drama regarding everyone else.) And he's brilliant in blaming other people for things he does.

So instead of distancing himself, which could harm him more than it'd do good at this point, he's more likely to just shrug the whole thing off. He does so when he kills Tav while feeding and that was really entirely his fault, so in a situation like this? Where he can actually blame someone else, too??? Damn, that's easy pray for our pointy-toothed scoundrel. Time to down play the issue and turn up the sexy to make good old Tav forget he was a bad boy for a minute there!

I do agree, however, that being controlled like that is definitely difficult for Astarion because, as you said, it reminds him of how Cazador used him. The wounds are still extremely fresh at this point, to the point that even I as a social worker would hesitate to work on anything regarding that area of his life, because it could easily lead to a melt down. Sometimes people need to calm down and heal a bit before you can tackle specific topics in a good way, which is definitely the case here.

Regarding the last point: Difficult to say, to be honest, as I'm not 100% sure which time frame we're specifically looking at. If we're still around the same point in the story as before - the Nere part - I'd definitely say it's slightly too early for him to worry much about it. At this point he's only just getting more comfortable around Tav and it's still a while before anything close to a relationship happens. Right now, he wants to be free and he wants to be safe and that likely takes precedence.

The further we get in the story, the more likely it is that he'll have mixed feelings about bringing Tav anywhere near Cazador and his old "home". Facing down your abuser leaves you really vulnerable and, more importantly, there's a chance Tav might leave him after finding out about all of the things he's done. Of course he slowly learns to trust them, but I think we're all well aware that this will take time.

Before Tav, he was all alone for so so long. Nobody helped him, nobody stayed with him, nobody ever did anything for him. It will take a long time to unlearn that.

Puh, you said yours was long and here's me making it even longer! I'm sorry, duck, but I hope I answered all your questions! ♥

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